


Feels like Destiny

by orphan_account



Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: F/F, pricefield
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-12
Updated: 2015-04-24
Packaged: 2018-03-22 14:31:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 24,818
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3732388
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Life is Strange AU – Instead of Max not contacting Chloe when returning to Arcadia Bay, Max gathers up the courage to talk to her old best friend two weeks after her arrival. [Pricefield] AUTHOR'S NOTE: Will parallel some events in the game but overall, this fic is meant more to be a focus around Chloe and Max's relationship.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Friday Morning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trying to gather up her courage, Max goes to see Joyce Price at the Two Whales diner to learn of what's happened to Arcadia Bay while she'd been away.

 

**CHAPTER 1: FRIDAY MORNING**

" _Crosses all over, heavy on your shoulders_."

The morning sun threw a warm, golden glow over the Bay while Max gazed out the bus window, watching her old hometown go by her. It'd been so long since she'd been here—part of it was familiar, part of it unfamiliar. She caught glimpses of the lighthouse on the other side of the bay, its whiteness a stark contrast to the light blue sky surrounding it. Seeing it again—seeing anything here again, really—brought back memories.

Memories of her and Chloe.

The bus shuddered to a stop, and Max made for the exit, putting her earphones back in her bag. As the bus rumbled away, she glanced up at the signature Two Whales sign, and she heard herself sigh.

She'd been nervous about doing this all day, so apprehensive of meeting Joyce Price again that she'd barely paid any attention in her classes today.

Max took a few steps towards the old diner, her mind trying to come up with to figure out what she would say, how she could apologize. To apologize for never talking to the Prices after her family had packed up and left for Seattle. To apologize for not being there for the Prices after William had died. To apologize for just being…gone. She swallowed, heart beating fast.  _Just get in there_.  _You'll have to meet one of the Prices' eventually_.

Taking a deep breath, Max made her way to the diner doors and pushed it open, the familiar smell of breakfast and the clanging sounds of silverware overwhelming her senses. She instinctively glanced towards the counter and recognized Joyce's back—she was busy washing some dishes, hadn't noticed her arrival.

Max breathed a shaky sigh of relief, then mentally cursed herself for being relieved.  _Freaking social anxiety_.

Making her way towards a booth in the far corner, Max sat down and took to looking out at her surroundings. Two Whales hadn't changed at all since the last time she'd been here. The jukebox rumbling out its tunes in the corner, that ancient gumball machine on the far opposite wall, the red booths—all of it was the same. Talk about fourth dimensional deja-vu. Being back in Arcadia Bay felt like she'd gone back in time.

Max was so lost in taking everything in that she completely missed Joyce walking up to her.

"Max Caulfield, back again!" Joyce laughed, snapping Max out of her reverie and she blushed.

"Hi, Joyce," Max gave a timid smile, surprised that Joyce had given her such a warm greeting.

"Look at you, all grown up—into a lovely young woman. How are you doing, Max?" Joyce chuckled, putting a cup on the table and filling it with coffee.

"It's good to see you again. You still look the same."

"Like I'm still a waitress at Two Whales after all these years?" Joyce asked, raising an eyebrow.

Max tried to backpedal as fast as possible. "No, like, you're still pretty."  _Shit, nice first impression, dumbass._

Joyce smiled, and Max internally gave a sigh of relief. "Nice save, kid. You're still smart. Smart enough to get into Blackwell Academy with a scholarship, I hear," she said.

"Yeah, classes started two weeks ago. I'm really excited to be there," Max said as she wrapped her hands around the warm coffee mug and brought it to her lips. The warmth of the drink was enough to relax her a little bit—Max hadn't realized she'd been so stiff and tense.

"Excited to be back in Arcadia Bay, though?" Joyce asked, her warm expression turning serious, "Considering Chloe hasn't mentioned you lately, I'm guessing you haven't gone to see her yet."

Max shifted uneasily in her seat, glancing away and biting her lip. Her silence was enough of an answer. Whatever stiffness that had gone away with her sip of coffee had suddenly come back, and Max felt herself shrinking into herself a little.  _Way to be awkward._

"You may look like you've grown up, but I still recognize that classic kid Caulfield shyness," Joyce sighed, leaning on the booth seat across from Max, "I'm guessing you came here to ask about Chloe."

Max glanced up and gave a slight nod, giving a shaky sigh. "I…know things were really hard for you and Chloe after my family left. I feel bad I didn't call," she said sadly, looking up apologetically.  _There's nothing I can say to really make up for being a dick for the past five years_ , Max thought bitterly,  _but I'm still going to try_.

"Now my folks are in Seattle and I'm all alone at Blackwell. It's my karma."

Joyce's eyes softened and she responded just as softly, "You did the right thing. You moved forward with your life." Joyce took that moment to give a sigh. "I did, after William passed on. Chloe though…Chloe chose to stay angry."

Max's head jerked up at that comment, and Joyce noticed.

"Oh, she went through all the phases," Joyce said, a tired smile on her face, "Expulsion, running away, drugs, bad boys, tattoos, piercings, blue hair."

Max's eyes were wide with surprise—that did not sound like the Chloe she'd remembered.

"Maybe now that you're back, you can be a good influence on her," Joyce said, straightening up. "Now, let's get down to the nitty-gritty. What do you want to eat?"

After asking for a Belgian waffle, Max sat quietly in the booth while Joyce left to serve other customers, contemplating what Joyce had just told her. This sounded like a completely different Chloe—and to be honest, it sounded like Chloe had done the things that she'd never had the guts to do. Like the hair dying, or the tattoos, or the piercings. What had Chloe been doing the past five years without her?

And the last thing Joyce had said to her— _you can be a good influence on her_.

To Max, that sounded like Joyce wanted Chloe and her to meet up again. But did Chloe even want to see her again? After what had happened the last time they'd seen each other, she wasn't so sure anymore. Max looked down at her cup of coffee, tilting it this way and that to see the liquid swirl around.

Even now, Chloe sounded like the complete opposite of her. She was a photography nerd and Chloe…seemed like a rebellious punk. But then again, Max thought as she added some cream to her coffee, the black on white coming together to form light brown swirls, her and Chloe together again…It was so tempting. If cream and coffee can come together to form something really beautiful, why couldn't they?

She looked out the window and again saw the ever-present lighthouse on the other side of the bay. Biting her lip, Max was reminded again of her past friendship with Chloe-who apparently, was now an  _old_  Chloe.  _Chloe sounds like she's changed, but she's always been braver and more outgoing than me. I guess I shouldn't be surprised though-it's not like I made a lot of effort to stay in touch._

After she'd finished eating, Joyce came back to pick up her plate and mug and Max began to get up, thanking her and remarking that she was glad to see her.

Joyce responded in kind, and after Max began to take out her wallet to pay, Joyce waved it away. "Breakfast's on me kid. I hope to see more of you again around here," she said, giving Max a warm, soft hug. Max hugged her back tightly, trying to convey all of what was unsaid.

Joyce pulled back and handed Max a slip of paper, to which Max looked up questioningly for an answer.

"It's Chloe's number, Max. Chloe's changed, but I think she'd be glad to see you," Joyce said, the corners of her eyes crinkling a little as she smiled.

Despite Joyce's kindness to her today, she could see how the years had done its toll on her—probably the effects maximized by Chloe's supposedly rebellious antics. Max took the paper and pocketed it, giving a nod of thanks.

"I definitely want to see her again, but I just…don't know," Max said somewhat lamely. She wanted to add, " _And considering what happened the last time we saw each other, I'm not sure she'd really be glad to see me_." But she held her tongue. She definitely did not want to add any more drama to anyone's lives—especially the Prices' lives.

In response, Joyce just gave a shrug. "You never know, Max. Try and step out of your shell a little. You're all grown up now, you can do it," she patted Max on the shoulder before turning away.

Outside the diner, Max took a few moments to recollect herself as she stared down at the piece of paper.  _The longer I go without seeing Chloe, the worse it'll look_.  _I have to see her eventually, now that Joyce knows I'm here in Arcadia._

Walking a few steps down the sidewalk, she turned for one last look at the Two Whales, recalling all the times her and Chloe's families had gone there to eat. Back when they were happy. Her heart ached for those times again and she bit her lip, anxiety and sadness tugging at her chest.

_I should've told her the truth._

Taking out her camera, Max snapped a photo of the Two Whales sign, a memento and reminder of what used to be—and what could be, what needed to be.

She needed to see Chloe again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my first fanfic in a long time and I'd really appreciate you guys reviewing! Dialogue is hard for me to write, as is conveying emotion, so I hope to do better in future chapters. I hope eventually I can rewrite this entire fanfic, but for now, consider this fic to be my first contribution. Thanks for reading! DISCLAIMER: LIFE IS STRANGE BELONGS TO DONTNOD ENTERTAINMENT.  
> Also, I'm really new to AO3, so forgive me for any formatting errors. You can also read this fic on ff.net.


	2. Friday Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Max has a restless sleep as she thinks about the last time she'd last seen Chloe--right before she'd left for Seattle.

 

**CHAPTER TWO: FRIDAY NIGHT**

" _People staring, they know you've been broken."_

Kicking back the covers and heaving a sigh of exasperation, Max lay in bed, turning over to stare moodily at the ceiling. For the umpteenth time that night, Max raised her phone above her, her phone in hand, thumb hovering over the keyboard as she fought with herself to send Chloe a text.

_A text? Max, are you stupid? You should call her—texting her after five years of no contact is so not cool._

_Call her? It's like, 1 AM, dumbass._

The internal debate and argument raged on, and still Max squinted at the too-bright screen in the darkness of her room. She'd been arguing with herself all day, her mind in turmoil after Joyce had given her Chloe's number to do with as she pleased. Now, if only she could figure out  _what_  she pleased.

Covering her eyes with her arm, Max tried to think of a way to see Chloe again without fucking up their inevitable reunion. They'd parted on…she didn't want to say bad terms, but they hadn't parted on good terms either. With her eyes closed and the night dragging on, Max began to drift back to the last time she'd seen her old best friend.

_So this is the last time I'll see Arcadia Bay, she thought, as the houses rolled past. She was in the back of parent's car, crammed between the backseat door and a few moving boxes._

_And this is the last time I'll see Chloe._

_Her heart twisted at the thought, and Max found herself swallowing, blinking rapidly. Her family was headed to the Prices' house right now, to pay their final respects and to say goodbye. Forever, Max subconsciously added._

_The car shuddered to a stop in front of the house, and Max followed her parents to the front door. They were greeted only by Joyce, who looked haggard, shoulders slumped, eyes weary and forlorn. The adults moved into the kitchen, her parents murmuring their condolences, leaving little Max by the stairwell._

_She stood by herself for a few moments, unsure of what to do, hands crumpling her t-shirt as she looked at the ground, anywhere but the house, anything to not remind her that she was leaving her best friend and life behind._

_She heard the all too familiar creak of the staircase and Max looked up, and she saw Chloe standing at the top._

_Her best friend's eyes were red and puffy, her normally confident and tall stance replaced by a hunched over and small appearance._

" _Max?" she whispered, voice fragile and vulnerable, expression broken and defeated._

" _Chloe, I…" Max started lamely, finding herself looking back down at her feet again. She didn't know what to say. About Chloe's dad. About leaving Chloe._

_She heard Chloe move down the stairs to stand in front of her, and she looked up, knowing that what'd she see would break her, her heart, everything—Chloe, miserable, torn apart, breaking on the inside._

" _Do you have to go?"_

" _My family has to."_

" _Don't," her best friend whispered, voice cracking, "Please."_

_Max was trying so hard not to fall to the ground, crying and sobbing because she knew Chloe didn't need that. Chloe needed her best friend right now. And her best friend was leaving her right when she needed her most._

_Shoulders shaking, Max bit her lip, fists balling up the ends of her t-shirt as she tried to figure out some way to make Chloe happy again._

" _I—"_

_Before Max could say anything, the adults came back into the hallway, and Max's parents gestured for her to follow, and she knew that it was time to really say goodbye. Her heart began to race,_

_But she couldn't. She couldn't. Not when Chloe was like this. Not when it felt like she was leaving a part of herself behind. Not when it felt like her heart was being broken in half._

_Forcing herself to look up, Max opened her mouth again, wanting to say to Chloe that she was sorry, that she couldn't stay, that she wanted to stay, that she hated leaving her behind like this, that she needed to tell Chloe the truth about how she felt, but she found herself unable to say anything as her chest tightened and her throat constricted._

_She felt her father's hand on her shoulder, trying to tell her that they needed to go, but she hadn't said anything yet and she needed to and she needed to be with Chloe and this was all happening so fast—_

_Chloe reached forward and grabbed her hand, those blue eyes begging her not to leave. Max heard her parents walking away from the door to the car, saw Joyce turning back to the kitchen, and she knew she had to say it now, had to say what she needed to before the fear and anxiety overwhelmed her senses—_

" _Max," Chloe stepped forward a little more, still holding her hand, pressing her forehead lightly against hers, and Max wished for nothing more than to stop time right then and there and just let the world just be her and Chloe together again._

" _Max…I…I love you. Please don't go," and with that, Chloe's voice cracked and she began to sob, shoulders shaking and her grip on Max's hand tightening._

_Breath caught in her throat, Max wanted nothing more than to say it back. She loved Chloe too—she'd realized that a long time ago but she'd never said it, believing that Chloe deserved someone better, someone who wasn't such a shy introverted geek, someone who was as cool and brave as her, but now she was hearing it for real this time, that Chloe loved her and she had to say it, to say it now._

_Even then, right when she was leaving forever, she couldn't say it. Fucking Max Caulfield couldn't tell her best friend that she loved her back. She was too scared about what would happen if she did, knowing that even if she said it she still had to leave Chloe behind. And then what would Chloe do? What would she do?_

_Pulling her hand away from Chloe's and feeling pieces of her soul shattering, Max began to take a few steps backward out the open door, gritting her teeth and trying to stop the tears from falling, each step away from Chloe like a knife in her gut._

" _I'm sorry, Chloe." Max turned and ran to her parent's car, not looking back once at her best friend, knowing that if she did she would never be able to leave Arcadia Bay._

Max moved her arm away from her face, again staring back at the dark ceiling, but the argument in her mind had ceased and her resolve was stronger now. Stronger than it had been all those years ago. She couldn't be a scared little kid forever.

She would see Chloe tomorrow. And she would tell the truth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not entirely satisfied with this chapter, but the more times I tried to rewrite it, the most frustrated I became. The original idea of this concept is from pattissecretartblog tumblr! Trying to upload a few chapters of this so that people can get a feel of how I write and to provide some better feedback on my writing. Thanks again for reading!


	3. Saturday Morning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Max finally gets it together, and decides to go to the Prices’ house and see Chloe again. Things don't go according to plan.

 

**CHAPTER 3: SATURDAY MORNING**

" _No one can tell where your heart is."_

Max checked her watch again, noting that it'd be just a few more minutes until she made it to the Prices' house. Though it'd been years since she'd last set foot in that place, she could still remember all the times she'd excitedly ran to Chloe's house from hers, prepared for another day of adventuring and pirating with her partner-in-crime. The sense of déjà vu hit her again, walking the same streets and roads that she'd used to walk years ago. Though the bus had brought her most of the way, she still had to spend a few minutes walking to get there.

The cool, brisk, morning air made Max feel more alert and awake than she'd ever been, but her pounding heart and shallow breathes gave away her nervousness.  _Sure, last night, it was easy to think that this wouldn't be hard. Just…go to Chloe's house and tell the truth. Easy._

But with each step she took, Max could feel the anxiety and apprehensiveness bearing down on her again, and she tried her best to shake it off.  _I'm not chickening out this time. I can't._

After some attempts at breathing exercises to calm her down as she walked, Max finally made it to Chloe's place. Pausing for a moment to take it in how… _same_  it looked, Max found herself taking out her camera and snapping a photo. A part of her wondered if she was photographing all the places Chloe and her used to hang out at out of nostalgia, but a part of her knew that having these photos would at least be a reminder of what their past friendship had been like.

She tried not to remember the last time she'd walked up to this house as she moved towards the front door. Though the house looked mostly the same, she noticed the American flag hanging right next to the door.  _That's new_ , Max mentally noted, looking at it for a few seconds, trying to stall the inevitable moment that she'd have to ring the goddamn doorbell.  _Stop being such a chicken. Just ring the doorbell, Max._

Bracing herself, Max raised a shaking hand and pressed the doorbell. Waiting with baited breath, Max could almost hear her heart racing through her chest and the thoughts bouncing around her mind that kept telling her this was such a stupid idea and there's no way Chloe wanted to see her again—

But after a few moments of no response, Max's pulse began to slow down and a part of her began to suddenly feel very stupid.  _It's Saturday morning. Who the hell is awake on Saturday morning?_ She cursed herself for being a dumbass. Again.

Max began to turn away, irritated at herself. Maybe she'd should've—

Just then, she heard the door open behind her and a groggy but somewhat familiar voice mumble, "Whozzair?"

Max's heart stopped.

Turning back around, Max saw Chloe for the first time in five years.

Joyce had not been joking when she'd said Chloe had changed.

Chloe's hair was short, dyed a brilliant blue, and a tattoo sleeve of birds, vines, flowers, and a skull was along her right arm. She wore a loose, white skull tank that hung around her thin frame, with black shorts poking out underneath the tank. But despite all the outside appearances, Max saw those same bright blue eyes. The same blue eyes that she'd come to love all those years ago.

And still now, looking at her best friend again took her breath away and she was silent for several moments, awestruck by just how  _beautiful_  Chloe looked, despite her disheveled morning appearance.

" _Max?"_  Chloe blurted, shattering Max's reverie. Blinking and suddenly thrown back into the present, Max scrambled to respond.

"Hi, Chloe," she said breathlessly, nervously. Her anxiety suddenly came crashing back full force, and she felt herself take a step back— _No, damn it! I'm not leaving. Not again._

"I, uh, just…wanted to come by. And say hi. I'm going to Blackwell now," Max rambled, looking anywhere but Chloe. "I thought I'd come by and see you again—" She stopped then, fear finally making its way to her voice and stopping it. Too afraid to see Chloe's reaction and too afraid to say anything else, Max just awkwardly stood there and she was horribly reminded of the last time she'd stood just like this in front of Chloe.

"Holy shit," she heard Chloe give a shaky laugh. "You're back."

"Yeah, I'm…back."

They both stood there awkwardly for a few moments, unsure of how to bridge the gap that had formed between them. What do you say to your best friend after five years of nothing?

"Hey, uh, it's kind of cold outside, so you should come in," Chloe said, stepping back through the doorway and gesturing at Max to come in. "Come on in, don't be shy," she chuckled, turning away.

 _Ok, well, that could've gone worse._ Max let out a shaky breath and felt her hands unclench. She took a few steps aside, and after her eyes adjusted to the dimness of the house, again that sense of going back in time hit her—the house looked exactly the same. "Your place still looks nice."

"Home, shit, home," she heard Chloe say from the kitchen, so she made to move there as well before noticing the pictures on the wall.  _Now that's the Chloe I remember_ , she thought as she looked over the photos of long-haired, brown-haired Chloe skateboarding and chasing after pigeons.

"Dude, you want something to eat?" Chloe called from the kitchen.

"Nah, I'm good." Moving towards the sound of Chloe's voice, she saw Chloe seated at the small table in front of the kitchen, hungrily wolfing down a bowl of cereal. Pulling out the chair in front of her, she sat down, stalling for time before she'd have to say something.

Not that Chloe didn't notice. "Aw, don't give me that look," Chloe grinned, giving Max a playful shove. "At least pretend you're glad to see me."

"Chloe? I'm seriously glad to see you," Max said as honestly as she could. "Feels so weird to be back," she continued, leaning back in her chair.

"So I guess Seattle sucked hard?" Chloe asked in between mouthfuls of cereal.

Shrugging, Max sighed. "I guess. It was cool but…I felt kind of lonely, out of my league." She took out her camera and held it in her hands for a few moments, remembering all the photos she'd taken with it in the past few years. Despite its beat-up and old appearance, it'd been pretty reliable at recording her perspective of the world. Though she loved her own photos, she knew better than to think she was anywhere close to Mark Jefferson's level of photographic skill.

Chloe snorted. "I'd think you'd fit right in with the art school hipsters."

"Right, and you look like hipster girl dot com," Max shot back, gesturing to Chloe's skull tank and blue hair.

"At least you're still a smartass," Chloe muttered, standing up to put her bowl in the dishwasher.

Max laughed, and she felt the mood lighten up a little. The first few moments of seeing her best friend again had felt tense, awkward, but she could feel the two of them getting back into what they'd used to be. The playful banter, the snarky comebacks. It was just like old times. "That's why I'm here," she chuckled.

Chloe turned at that comment, raising an eyebrow. "Please. Mom told me you got into Blackwell Academy."

 _So Joyce did tell Chloe I was here_.  _Good thing I came to visit Chloe sooner rather than later._

"Only for Mark Jefferson. He was a famous photographer in the nineties, and I've always—," she began gushing, but stopped when she suddenly realized that what she was saying was the wrong thing—too late. Already Chloe was scowling, her expression sour.

"Chloe—," Max started, trying to do damage control, but Chloe interrupted her instead.

"No, I get it. You come back for a famous photographer and not your best friend." Chloe leaned against the kitchen sink with her arms crossed, glaring at the ground.

"Don't you think I'm happy to see you?" Max asked, almost with a tinge of desperation.  _I can't fuck this up. Not now._ She felt something sharp and painful stab her heart. Hurting Chloe within five minutes of reuniting was  _not_  what she'd planned.

"No," and Max could tell from the angry undertone of Chloe's voice and her closed posture that she was in for it now. "You were happy to wait five years without a call or a text, Max." Bitterness layered over her sharp words, and Max flinched from how blunt Chloe was.

Whatever positive progress Max had felt like they'd made in the past few minutes immediately evaporated and Max mentally punched herself— _way to fuck up._

Taking a deep breath, knowing that this would have happened eventually, Max did her best to sound as honest as possible.

"I'm  _sorry_ , I know things were hard on you when I left—"

" _How would you know?_ " Chloe snarled, whipping around and stalking up to where Max was sitting, frozen in her seat like a deer in headlights.  _Shit, this was not supposed to happen—_ Max's thoughts were scrambling and she found it difficult to focus on forming a better apology—

"You weren't even here, Max, remember? You  _left_ ," Chloe's five years of pent-up fury was finally being released, and each word felt like daggers in Max's heart.

Suddenly though, Max could feel her own irritation starting to rise. She'd come here to apologize, to try and be with Chloe again, to tell her the truth and here everything was just fucking up.

"I didn't  _order_  my parents to move specifically to fuck you over, Chloe," Max started, trying to keep her voice level without angering Chloe further. "And I came over here to apologize for-," she had to swallow and take a deep breath before saying the next few words, but Chloe interpreted that as a pause of hesitation.

" _Apologize for what?"_ Chloe leaned in closer, her face a few inches away from Max's face. "For  _what_ ,  _Max?"_

This was not how they were supposed to have reunited, not in this angry, bitter, harsh way. Feeling her chest tighten and the beginnings of tears in her eyes, Max steeled her resolve.  _I'm not messing up this time. Even if she hates me and wants me gone,_   _I'm going to get this right._

" _I'm sorry_  for leaving you, Chloe.  _I'm sorry_  for abandoning you when your dad died,  _I'm sorry_  I never contacted you,  _I'm sorry_  I was an asshole for the last five years, and  _I'm sorry_  I wasn't there for you," Max's voice cracked at the end, but she had to keep going. Her voice was firm, though it wavered as she forced herself to keep going. She had to get all of this out, even if her best friend hated her now and forever. "If," swallowing back the lump in her throat and making to stand up, "You don't want to see me again, I get it.  _I'll go_. I just wanted to come back and say I'm sorry."

She didn't even think twice about telling Chloe the truth about how she felt. If her old best friend hated her this much, telling the truth would just make things worse. Turning away before Chloe could see the tears start to fall, Max grabbed her camera from the table and made to break into a run before she felt a firm hand close around her arm.

"Don't go," a voice so fragile and soft said behind her. "Please."

Shock and surprise stopped Max in her tracks, and she turned to see Chloe, who looked just as surprised as her—but that lasted for a split second, and Chloe looked away, letting go of Max's arm, the both of them remembering the last time she'd said words like those so long ago.

Taking a shaky, deep breath, Chloe looked anywhere but Max. "Look, I…I just need some time alone. You can stay here if you want." Her voice forcedly neutral, Chloe brushed past Max and towards the stairs and up to her room.

The slam of Chloe's door was enough to shake Max from her frozen position, and she let out the breath she'd been holding. Swallowing, Max looked down to see her hands were shaking.  _God._ That _went well._

_If I'm ever going to make things up to Chloe, I need to try harder._

Sitting down on the old living room couch—she duly noted that it looked even more worn than the last time she'd seen it—Max put her face in her hands, leaving her camera on the coffee table as she tried to take a few deep breathes in an attempt to get her pulse back to normal. Eventually, she'd have to see Chloe again. Eventually, she'd have to tell Chloe how she felt. Eventually, she'd have to stop being a chickenshit and just get things over with.

After taking down her anxiety a notch, Max stood up and put her camera back in her bag. She wasn't sure that Chloe wanted to see her just yet, and honestly, it was probably best that she let Chloe come to her when she wanted to.

This gave Max plenty of time to explore and get a better view of her surroundings, of the house that her and Chloe had played adventure in so many times. She chuckled at the old wine stain on the ground.  _Man, Chloe and I got into so much trouble because of that._ Glancing around, she decided to see what other moments she could get from this place.

Walking around the first floor, Max frowned at the hunting photo framed on the wall, sighed sadly at the Prices' travel jar of coins, raised an eyebrow at the extremely dusty books on the bookshelf. The garage door was locked for some reason, so she didn't bother heading into there. Only place left to explore then was the backyard. Opening and closing the sliding glass door, Max stood in a quiet backyard where the cool morning breeze played across the grass.

Gravitating toward the old swingset that William had made for her and Chloe, Max sat down in the swing, gently rocking back and forth as she looked around. The peacefulness here—it was almost like a zen garden. She closed her eyes, content to think of nothing and simply listen to the world around her. It'd always been like this, her, Max, an observer of the world she lived in, rarely participating. Just listening, and watching.

It felt so nice out here. Blackwell was beautiful, sure, but the hustle and bustle of tons of student activities made Blackwell an attraction of multiple sounds at any point of day.  _It feels nice to just sit and relax in peace,_  Max thought, smiling to herself.

Max was so lost in her thoughts that she hadn't heard the backyard door open and close, nor did she hear the light footsteps that came to a stop in front of her.

"Hey."

Flinching at being torn from her thoughts and eyes snapping open, Max jerked up from the swing and she almost collided into Chloe standing in front of her.

Catching herself, Max pressed a hand to her heart.  _Damn, I'm going to get a heart attack from how many times I throw my heart into overdrive._

"Shit, you could warn me next time," Max huffed, not looking at Chloe.

"Sorry. I just…" Sitting down, Chloe crossed her legs and rested her head on her hand, her elbow placed on her knee. Max sat across from her, tugging at a few blades of grass. She noticed that Chloe had donned a black blazer and put on some ripped jeans, accompanied by some cool boots and a dark blue beanie.

Chloe reached forward and started pulling at the grass too, and the two spent a few moments in silence, just plucking blades of grass from the ground. Max decided she'd be the one to start the conversation this time.  _No more chickening out_.

"I know, Chloe. I get that you'll probably never forgive me for not talking to you for the past five years." Not quite meeting Chloe's eye, though she could from the corner of her eye that her best friend was looking at her, Max continued, "I know I fucked up—" and she heard Chloe mutter under her breath, "Yeah, you did," and her grass-plucking became slightly more aggressive, "—but I'm honestly really glad to see you, Chloe." Max looked up then at her best friend, looked back into those blue eyes, the one thing about Chloe that still seemed the same.

Chloe gave a deep sigh and leaned back on her arms, turning her head towards the sky. Max bit her lip, hoping that something good would happen in the next few moments, that something would happen so that her and Chloe wouldn't be so distant anymore. Her heart ached at the strong divide between the two of them, and she wanted nothing more at that moment than for things to be the same between them again.

Then Chloe said something so quietly, so softly, that Max had to strain to hear it, but when she did, her heart skipped a beat.

"I'm glad you're back too, Max."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't mean for this to get so long, but I couldn't find a good place to break this into two parts. Some more practice at describing emotions and dialogue, which I'm a little rusty on. I'm gonna try and update this fic weekly (?), so every Saturday. With the first three chapters up, I'm glad there's at least some legitimate content here. Now I can take my time with the rest of this lol. This fic is also on ff.net, so I'm going to use that the primary updates. If I have time, I'll come back and add it to AO3.


	4. Saturday Afternoon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reunited, Max and Chloe spend some time catching up. Like what always happens when they’re together, trouble arrives.

 

**CHAPTER 4: SATURDAY AFTERNOON**

" _I can't seem to breathe with a rusted metal heart_."

After lounging in the backyard for a while, Chloe and Max headed back inside to hang out in Chloe's room.

"My room looks a bit different than the last time you saw it," Chloe said, throwing herself onto her bed and leaning on her side, head resting on her hand as she looked at Max.

"It's cool. At least we can chill out." Max's gaze followed the mess of posters and wall graffiti around the room.  _Yeah, it looks a lot different_.

Chloe scoffed at that, and she reached over her bed to grab a blunt and ashtray. "This isn't exactly my 'chill-out' zone. The step-führer makes sure of that." While Chloe smoked her weed, Max took to closing Chloe's door and sitting down next to Chloe on her bed, her back against the wall.

 _Hard to believe Chloe was my BFF just five years ago_. She looked over at the suitcase on the floor, noting the number of beer cans and bottles. Taking out her camera again, Max wondered if she could take a photo of the room—of what Chloe was like now. The whole room just radiated punk rock, from the signs of underage drinking, Chloe's blatant smoking, the numerous band posters on the walls, the sharpie'd graffiti of aggressive phrases drawn everywhere.

Taking another drag of her joint, Chloe breathed out, "So, what does Max Caulfield do for fun now that she's a grown up?"

"You know me. I like to watch the world more than participate." She raised her camera for emphasis.

Chloe snorted. "I can't say I know you much anymore."

Shifting a little to avoid the smoke from Chloe's weed, Max responded, "Then you can get to know me now." To show proof, Max began to take out the handfuls of Polaroids she had in her bag, placing them on the bed between her and Chloe. Max always brought some of her favorite photos with her when she traveled, but a lot of photos she took were her favorites; naturally then, her bag was full of Polaroid snapshots.

"I take photos. Of me, the world, everything. And I like to bring my favorite photos with me wherever I go." Digging around for my Polaroids, Max tossed them onto Chloe's bed, where Chloe picked a few up.

"It sounds kind of sad, but I have a blast taking photos all the time," Max continued, smiling fondly when she picked up a photo of her first sunset at Blackwell. Chloe leaned over to get a better look—the golden colors had made the sky like a painting, the bright sun casting sharp shadows across the campus. It'd been a perfect moment to get a picture of her new life.

"I'm happiest when I have a great image in my lens…" Max almost hesitated saying her next few words, but being honest with Chloe was the best thing right now.

"…I'm not lonely, not afraid," she finished quietly, and she glanced up then to see Chloe's expression had softened.  _Chloe, of all people, would know what it's like to be lonely and afraid._

"Now that's inspiring. I don't feel so totally helpless." Chloe grinned then, and suddenly remembering her manners, Chloe offered her blunt to her. Max laughed and shook her head. "I'm good, thanks."

They spent the next few hours talking about Max's life at Blackwell (they both agreed that the Vortex Club was full of snobs, and they'd both burst out laughing at that) while perusing Max's collection of photos. Max pointed out the ones she wanted to put up on her memorial wall back in her dorm room. Chloe suggested some (she'd laughed at Max's numerous selfies), then pointed out the ones she liked. Without hesitation, Max offered them to her. Her best friend had put down her weed then, raising her eyebrows in surprise, but Max insisted.

Max's heart fluttered a little when Chloe smiled then—a genuine smile, and her heart leapt from joy at having made Chloe a little bit happy today at least. After Chloe gave her thanks, the pair began to clean up Max's clutter of photos from Chloe's bed—until Chloe saw a worn, old, picture they hadn't looked at yet.

Max's heart almost stopped then—she knew exactly what photo that was, because it wasn't a Polaroid like the rest of her photos. It was worn and bent from age, from the amount of times she'd pulled it out and looked at it, aching for someone lost to her and remembering old memories. It was a larger, rectangular photo with creases on the edges and before she could open her mouth to stop Chloe from looking at it, Chloe had picked it up.  _Crap, I forgot to hide that one—_

"Dude, I didn't know you carried around the photo of us when we were pirates," Chloe smirked, leaning away and holding the photo out of Max's reach as she tried in vain to take it back.

Her face red from embarrassment, Max struggled to take back the photo but Chloe simply burst out laughing and stood up.  _Chloe's always been taller than me_ , _damn it_. Chloe snickered as Max got up and tried to follow Chloe around the room as she kept the photo from her. Struggling to reach, Max stood on her tip-toes to try and reach Chloe's outstretched hand.

"It—It just means a lot to me, okay, Chloe?"

"Damn, Max. Do you bring this  _everywhere_  with you? It's all beat up and bent," Chloe said, that classic shit-eating grin on her face while she ignored Max's protests. Max held onto Chloe's arm to balance herself as she tried to reach up, but Chloe kept waving the photo around, preventing Max from even getting close.

"Aw, you really did miss me," Chloe mused, and Max took that moment of distraction to hop up and grab the criminalizing photo.

For a split second, their hands touched, and Max was suddenly hyperaware of just how close she was to Chloe—her left hand was holding onto Chloe's right arm, the right hand clamped around Chloe's raised left hand and photo. Max stopped breathing when Chloe seemed to realize the same thing, and the two looked at each other for a moment, faces just inches apart.

She could see just how clear Chloe's blue eyes were, and since they were standing in the light of the window, the afternoon sun gave Chloe an almost ethereal glow about her. Where her hand touched Chloe's, Max could suddenly feel it burning, a fire at where they were touching and she immediately took her hand away from Chloe's.

Unnerved too at their sudden closeness, Chloe took a step back, blinking, and then she was out of the sunlight, breaking the spell. Max let go of her hold on Chloe's arm and she too took a step back, trying to control her shaky breathing.

"Oh…kay. That was a thing," Chloe said, giving a shaky laugh. "Here. I'm…glad that you missed me." Chloe took a step towards Max and put the photo back into Max's bag.

"Thanks, Chloe," Max said, trying to sound as grateful as possible. Chloe's lips had been so close…If she'd just had the guts…

"Now that you've told me all about your new life, lemme tell you about mine." Grinning, Chloe turned around and began to pull some CDs out of the clutter of her desk.  _Man. Chloe recovers much better than I do._   _I'm going to have to stop doing this deer-in-headlights thing every time something happens between us._

"I have some hella sick music that you totally gotta listen to." Chloe popped a CD into her stereo and a song rock song started to play, the metallic clang of guitars reverberating from the speakers.

Grabbing Max's hands, Chloe started dancing, laughing at Max's awkwardness. "C'mon hippie! Let's  _dance!"_

Cracking up from how unreal this felt, Max had to take a step away, shaking her head. "No way. You're crazy, Chloe," Max got out in between her giggles.

But a part of her was enjoying seeing Chloe jumping around, all excited and energized. It felt like old times, when her and Chloe would go play pirates in the forest by the town. The part that felt surreal was just being with her best friend again, and despite how different they both were, she was glad that Chloe was opening up to her again.

"Fine, take a picture of me rockin' out then," Chloe grinned, and she jumped up onto her bed and started swaying and nodding to the beat.

 _Now this'll be a picture I'll definitely keep._  Taking out her camera, Max heard the shutter of her camera snap the photo—right at the same second Chloe and her both heard a loud door slam downstairs.

" _Chloe, are you up there?!"_  A loud, booming, male voice suddenly came up from downstairs and through the music.

Chloe's expression abruptly changed to that of panic and then fury. "Quick—turn it off, turn it off!" Chloe hissed, gesturing for Max to hurry.

The moment Max shut the stereo off, the room was filled with a tense silence for a split second before—

" _How many times have I told you to stop blasting that punk shit?!_ " the same voice shouted, and Max looked at Chloe desperately for what to do. Chloe's expression was a mixture of anger and helplessness.

Chloe snarled back just as loudly, "Dude, the music's not even on!" Under her breath, she added, "Asshole."

" _I'm comin' up! We need to talk!"_  And then Chloe and Max heard heavy feet pounding up the stairs.

"Ugh _, no fucking way!_  You need to hide,  _now!_  My stepdad will kill me if he finds you here." Chloe began to shove Max towards her closet. "Just stay in there until he leaves!" She hissed as Max was unceremoniously thrust into Chloe's closet, and before Max could say anything, she turned to see Chloe shutting the closet door before the room to Chloe's room burst open.

Breathing shallowly, Max peered through the small slits in the closet door.

Chloe's back was to her, her shoulders hunched, fists held out in rage. "Jesus, what do you want?" she snarled, and Max could tell without even seeing that Chloe was scowling.

The man that came in—and Max did a double take when she saw who it was—took a few steps around the room.  _That's David Madsen! The security guard at Blackwell is Chloe's stepdad?!_

"One of the boys at the station told me they'd saw you at that old junkyard again. I ordered-I mean,  _told_  you to stay away from there," David said grimly, turning and matching Chloe's scowl.

Chloe was just about to shoot a retort for David to mind his own business when David reached for something on Chloe's bed, and Max didn't even have to guess what it was as David suddenly whipped around.

"Wait, is that  _grass?!_  You've been toking up again in here?" He asked incredulously, his face suddenly livid.

Chloe didn't respond, instead looking away and glaring at the ground, her arms crossed.

David seemed to have had enough, and he took a few threatening steps towards Chloe as Max held her breath. She was scared shitless—not only for herself, but more so for Chloe and what David might do to her.

"I am sick of your disrespect," he growled. "Tell me the truth, that's an order!" Max stood in the closet, hands pressed against the door, terrified for Chloe.

" _Whose is it?"_  David barked, standing right in front of Chloe now, shaking the blunt in his hand. Chloe still refused to respond, her face turned away, refusing to look David in the eye.

Max couldn't take it any longer. She couldn't let Chloe be alone—she'd promised herself she wouldn't abandon Chloe again. Later, a part of her would die on the inside when she would realize Chloe had had to deal with someone like David for the past few years by herself, without anyone else.  _I'm not letting Chloe down again._

Pushing the closet door open, Max stepped out into the room.

A little breathlessly, Max said, "Um, I'm sorry, that was my joint."

Chloe turned around at that, surprised and shocked—but Max only saw her expression for a split second before David was on her.

"Well, well. I don't like strangers in my home," he said menacingly, taking a few steps towards her. Max tried to take a few steps backward, to keep some distance between him and her, but her back was pressed against the closet door and she found herself looking to Chloe, eyes begging for help.

" _Especially_  dopers," David continued. "So how about if I call the police? That'll mess up your spotless Blackwell record." His last few words he accompanied with sharp jabs towards Max's shoulder, and she swallowed, anxiety and fear preventing her from responding.

"I'm sick of people like you dragging Chloe down," and David drew himself to his full height then, looking down at Max as she shrunk into herself, wanting nothing more than to just be alone with Chloe at that moment.

" _Hey!_ " Chloe was suddenly there in front of her, shoving David away. "Like you've ever known what's best for me," she snarled, standing protectively in front of Max. "And get the hell away from my friends, man," Chloe added threateningly, hands balling into fists.

Before Max could even register that Chloe had just called her a friend, the next thing that David said hit Max like a train.

"You don't have any friends."

Max's mind was suddenly on hyperdrive—what? Had Chloe been alone this  _entire_  time? That's impossible—

David and Chloe argued for another minute while Max tried her best to calm herself down, trying to repress the anxiety attack that she felt coming on.  _God, this day could not get any worse._

"And Max? Joyce told me you were a good kid. I guess not," David growled before turning away. "If I ever see you here again, you'll know about real trouble," David finished ominously. And with that, Max flinched as he slammed the door on his way out.

Chloe turned then, looking relieved. "Thanks for taking the h—"

Max reached forward and hugged Chloe as hard as she could, pressing her face into Chloe's shoulder, wrapping her arms tightly around Chloe's chest.

"Max?" Chloe said softly, uncertainly. After a moment's hesitation, she hugged Max back.

They stood like that for a few more moments, Max just trying her best not to fall apart at that second. She'd done it. She'd been there for Chloe. But her heart was pounding and she could feel how sweaty the palms of her hands were.  _Holy shit. That did not go well for me. If I want to keep my Blackwell scholarship and stay in Arcadia Bay with Chloe, I need to watch myself._ Scrunching her hands on the back of Chloe's blazer, Max took one last second to appreciate behind held in Chloe's gentle arms—she wondered if she would ever be held like that again—before letting Chloe go.

As Max pulled back, Chloe gave her a small smile. "Anyway, let's get outta here. We can climb out the window," Chloe said, pulling away and moving towards the window above her desk.

After taking a minute for each of them to drop down from the window, Chloe and Max got into Chloe's car. As they drove away, Max looked towards the horizon, seeing the sunset—and she was reminded of the photo she'd shown Chloe earlier of her first sunset at Blackwell. A part of her hoped Chloe and her could watch the sunset together one day, when things were back to normal. Whatever normal was.

"Hey, Max?" Chloe asked as she drove, pulling Max from her thoughts.

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for being there for me today."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still trying to go for game parallels! I liked that in-game, you had time to explore but there's little in terms of conversations. I hope the game parallels won't be too strong in further chapters-I promise, there will be more original content. Thanks again for reading and reviewing, everyone! It's really motivating and encouraging to see other people like this! And as always, open to critique and suggestions for improvement! [I know I said I'd post on Saturdays, but I had some free time today to just sit down and write this chapter up.]


	5. Saturday Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chloe spends the night at Max’s dorm, and the two try to get to know each other again after five years of separation and silence.

**CHAPTER 5: SATURDAY NIGHT**

" _But what was normal in the evening, by the morning seems insane."_

Chloe drove them to a local drive-through for dinner, and they ate in silence in Chloe's car. The events of the entire day had them both in their own thoughts, and Max had noticed on the drive there that Chloe had been particularly quiet. As she dug into her fries, Max realized that Chloe was giving her some space, and she was grateful. They'd only been together for less than twenty-four hours and still they'd gotten into trouble; she hoped this wouldn't a reoccurring thing, though what happened afterwards still stuck with her. Her mind kept drifting back to their embrace after David's tantrum; Max wanted to be back in Chloe's arms, to feel  _hope_  again that maybe her and Chloe could be more. Some day.

A part of her wondered if she was being too obvious too early with her feelings for Chloe. And she wasn't sure if Chloe even felt the same way anymore. But another part of her whispered a reminder of how protective Chloe had gotten when David had turned on Max, of how defensive Chloe had been when she'd called Max a friend, of how gently Chloe had hugged her after the whole ordeal…

Max shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts.  _Ok, first, Chloe and I need to figure out what we are now before I even try to do anything else._

"Chloe?" Max asked tentatively, turning to see Chloe in the middle of a bite of her burger.

Chloe tried to answer and swallow at the same time, resulting in a choking fit and Max burst out laughing as she clapped her friend on the back. Gasping after managing to fully swallow, Chloe put the burger down and roughly wiped her mouth on her sleeve. "Whew, thanks, super Max," she said, winking, and Max rolled her eyes. Nicknames were always a Chloe-thing.

Without thinking, Max reached forward with a napkin and wiped away a bit of food on Chloe's face that she hadn't gotten. The part of her hand that'd brushed Chloe's face began burning, and she quickly pulled back once she'd realized what she'd done.

Max fiddled with the napkin in her hands for a few seconds, trying not to meet Chloe's eye. Taking a deep breath, Max focused on asking what she needed to ask. "Chloe…back there, you told David I was your friend," Max said carefully, trying to pick her words so she didn't fuck up like she did earlier this morning. "I just want to know if we're friends now," she sighed, putting her napkin down and looking at the passenger side window. In the reflection, she could see Chloe shift in her seat, leaning on one hand towards her.

"Max," Chloe said softly, "I'd like to be friends again." Max's heart leapt to her throat and she turned to look at Chloe. Instead of seeing the bitter, sarcastic person she'd gotten to know in the past few hours, she saw someone who looked worn and tired, someone who'd lost too much and needed even more back.

"Okay," Max said breathlessly, and again without thinking, Max reached her hand forward and placed her hand over Chloe's.

Chloe didn't move away, and their eyes met.

For a split second, Max thought Chloe was leaning in, but then Max mustered what self-control she had and pulled away, taking her hand away from Chloe's.  _This is all happening so fast—and I need to slow down._

Trying to ignore the elephant in the room, Max opened her mouth to apologize but Chloe suddenly blurted out, "Can I stay with you tonight?"

Max had to shut down the immediate thoughts that came to mind and nodded numbly. She swallowed before answering. "Yeah, anytime, Chloe."

After dumping the trash from their dinner, Chloe silently drove the both of them back to Blackwell. Max wondered about what Chloe was thinking, but all she could tell was that Chloe was deep in thought. The old Chloe had always been an open book, her expressions always giving away what she was feeling or thinking.  _It's been five years, Max. Of course Chloe's going to be different._

Chloe parked her car in the lot and the two made the trek to the dorms in silence. Max shivered—the result of West Coast weather meant hot afternoons but cold evenings, and her light gray jacket wasn't enough for the cool night air. She suddenly felt another jacket being put around her shoulders, and Max turned to look questioningly at the now blazer-less Chloe.

"What? I don't feel the cold," Chloe said nonchalantly, shrugging her shoulders and lighting a cigarette.

Max rolled her eyes. Nonetheless, she felt comforted by Chloe's gesture, and she wrapped Chloe's blazer around her a little more tightly. "Sure, Miss Badass. And dude, no smoking on school grounds," Max said, taking Chloe's cigarette and throwing it on the ground, crushing it under her foot. "At least use e-cigs, Chloe."

Chloe gave an exasperated sigh and mumbled something about "goody two-shoes" before the pair finally made it to Max's dorm. She handed Chloe's blazer back as she grabbed her keys to get in, and in no time, they were outside Max's room.

She felt Chloe close behind her as she opened the door. Reaching blindly in the darkness for a second, Max clicked on the power board by the side of her bed, and her memorial wall lit up as the paper lanterns across the wall shone a warm, pale glow. Max put her bag on the ground, and she saw Chloe move around her to take a better look at her photo wall.

'Wow,' Chloe mouthed, eyebrows raised in disbelief. "Like, you told me about your wall, but I didn't think there'd be  _this_  many photos," she said, leaning a little to get a look.

"You can look at them if you want," Max said, closing the door behind them. Coming from Chloe's chaotic punk mess of a room, Chloe's presence in her own nerdy and hipster getaway was bizarre to look at; she almost wanted to take a photo, but decided on a different way to remember this moment. While Chloe got on her knees on her bed to take a closer look at the multitude of photos, Max sat down on her couch and pulled out her journal. She'd been writing in it for a while, and scratching her thoughts and doodles down when she had free time was a way for her to relax and recollect herself. With Chloe's back to her, Max quickly drew a sketch of Chloe, framed by her photos, and began to write down the day's events.

The only sounds for a few minutes were the scratching of Max's pencil on paper and Chloe's occasional shift on her bed to get a better look at something on her wall.

"Hey, Max?"

"Hm?"

"Why aren't there photos of me on your wall?"

Max looked up then, but she was prepared to answer that question.

"There's a photo now," she said, whipping out her camera and quickly snapping a photo of Chloe before she could react. The camera flashed and the shutter whirred, catching Chloe in a state of bewilderment.

Laughing at Chloe's surprised look, she handed the developing Polaroid to her. "There. Karma for earlier today." Smirking at Chloe's dumbfounded expression, she took that moment to snap a selfie of herself with Chloe in the background. She tried not to think about the fact that she'd left Chloe's question unanswered.

" _Max!_  Seriously!" Max burst out laughing as Chloe reached out to take her camera and the selfie from her. Backing away as Chloe jumped from the bed, Max found herself cornered, with the closet on her right and couch to her left and Chloe in front. "Hah. Got you now," and it was Chloe's turn to smirk—before a t-shirt and shorts hit her in the face.

"You can sleep in those tonight, you big crybaby," Max chortled, sidestepping around Chloe to put her camera safely away in her bag again. She grabbed a piece of tape from her desk and stuck the selfie to the wall.

Chloe was still fuming, but she made no move to take their most recent picture off the wall. "I'm gonna keep the first photo," she muttered, shoving it down the back pocket of her jeans.

"So, where am I gonna crash, Maxine?" Chloe suddenly asked, gesturing to the bed and the couch. She grabbed one hand under her tank and took it off in one fluid motion, exposing only her chest and black bra. Max's brain went blank.

 _Oh, shit._  "Uh, wherever you want," she said distractedly, politely looking away as Chloe started stripping. Max moved to her computer and made a point of remaining intently focused on it while she heard the rustle of clothing in the background—she'd read the same line in the same email ten times, trying to stay focused and not mentally picture what was happening behind her before she felt Chloe's hands on the back of her chair.

"I can try the couch," Chloe said in an unconcerned tone, looking over Max's shoulder. "Mind if I use your computer too?" she asked.

"Yeah, sure." Max almost stumbled getting out of her chair, and for the briefest second, she thought she saw a smirk on Chloe's face before Chloe moved past her and into the seat she'd just occupied.

Taking that as her cue to change, she did as well, donning one of her favorite t-shirts and shorts. Admiring the three cartoon chicks on her shirt in the mirror by her door, Max turned to catch Chloe staring. They both looked away quickly, Max blushing and Chloe reddening a little before Max broke the awkward silence.

"So…It's 10 PM. Wanna watch a movie on my laptop before we crash?" She asked, sitting on her bed, pulling her legs up and wrapping her arms around them. Putting her chin on her knees, Max watched Chloe take her laptop and join her on her bed.

"Anything you wanna watch?" Chloe said, and Max automatically moved over so that she was between Chloe and the memorial wall. Max propped up a few pillows, and the two leaned back onto them, sliding under the covers. Chloe propped Max's laptop between the two of them and then she chuckled, shaking her head.

"What?" Max asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Do you remember when we made those hardcore pillow forts whenever we had sleepovers?"

Max burst out laughing, recalling their efforts at building the best fort of all time. They'd started out small, but somehow their endeavors became more ambitious to the point that they'd spend hours just trying to make their next fort bigger than the last.

"Yeah, and remember that one time we made one so huge that we ended up taking all the pillows and blankets in my house?"

"Dude, yeah, and then your parents totally banned us from making a fort ever again."

They both started cracking up, and then they spent the next hour going over how intricate their last fort had been—Chloe suggested they try and build one right then and there, but Max pointed out that she only had two pillows and two blankets, to which Chloe responded they should just steal some from the other girls, and Max rolled her eyes—their banter continued for a while as Max tried to dissuade Chloe from getting the two of them into trouble again.

The barrier that had been keeping them so distant over the past day began to dissolve, and Max could almost see Chloe's walls crumbling down, could feel Chloe starting to trust her again. Her heart began doing cartwheels in her chest, and Max did her best to ignore the butterflies in her stomach that appeared whenever Chloe grinned or laughed at their old childhood memories.  _Chloe just looks so happy again—and I'm glad I'm the one here to see it._

Eventually, the two decided on watching one of Chloe's favorite movies,  _Thelma and Louise_. About halfway through, Max found herself yawning, and she leaned her head on Chloe's shoulder. She struggled to stay awake for Chloe's sake, but Max found herself drifting away, eyes closing…

Max groggily woke up when the room was almost pitch black. She was woken by Chloe, who'd gently picked Max up in her arms to lay her down in bed. Max tried to see in the darkness as she felt Chloe moving away from her and to the couch—and her heart twisted at the sudden lack of physical contact.

"Wait," Max whispered without thinking, and she saw Chloe freeze in place.

Max reached out in the darkness for Chloe's arm and held onto it, wanting nothing more than to be held in Chloe's arms again. "Don't go. Please," Max said softly, desperately trying not to sound distraught.

Regret filled her immediately when she felt Chloe hesitating in the darkness, and she began to take her hand off Chloe's arm, already feeling humiliation at sounding so pathetic in front of her best friend.

So it surprised her when she finally heard Chloe say a little breathlessly, "Okay."

Chloe slid into bed next to her and Max instinctively wrapped her arms around Chloe, burying her face in the crook of Chloe's neck. Max had no reservations anymore—future Max could handle whatever happened in the morning.

Chloe surprised her again when she'd gently put her arms around Max's smaller form, and Max breathed a sigh of comfort as Chloe rested her chin atop Max's head.

"Welcome home, Max," Chloe murmured.

Max's only response was to hug Chloe closer to her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inspired by all the fics I read of Chloe sleeping over, I just had to do my own version of a sleepover scene! I wrote the ending to this though 5 different times; one ending was too fluffy, one was too OOC, one was too negative, and one was literally a wish-fulfillment scene. I tried to go for the most realistic one, because I honestly feel like Chloe and Max would actually take months to get together, rather than days, but naturally with fanfics, the process is sped up lol.
> 
> Thanks for the kudos! And if you follow me on tumblr, you see some live posts every now and then of the writing struggle, lol. Thinking about posting the alternate endings to this chapter on my blog eventually. But anyway, thanks for the support everyone!


	6. Sunday Morning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chloe and Max hang out together at Chloe’s secret lair and find something new to discover.

 

**CHAPTER 6: SUNDAY MORNING**

" _But maybe I have to think it's funny if I wanna live before I die."_

" _Max._ "

Max groaned, trying to bury her face in her pillow.  _I had the nicest dream last night. I'm not about to wake up._

"Max, come on, wake up."

When Max blindly reached out to pull her blanket over her head, she felt herself grasping at nothing. Grumbling, Max gave up and opened her eyes, squinting from the lightness of her room.

At first she was disoriented, as what she thought had originally been her pillow was actually Chloe's shoulder—Max was suddenly slammed with the reality of what had happened last night, and her heart started rapidly pounding as she realized she was curled into Chloe's side, one arm draped across Chloe's chest. She felt Chloe's arm underneath and around her, and she almost stopped breathing.

_Oh my Lord, that was real! Chloe actually stayed with me! Oh my Lord…_

"Woah, Max, chill. It's just me," Chloe said, noticing Max's breathing rate had suddenly increased and that Max had instinctively taken a fistful of Chloe's shirt in an attempt to calm herself down.

Gulping down some air, Max responded shakily, "Yeah, sorry." She let go of her deathgrip on Chloe's shirt and moved to sit up. Chloe got up with her, and put her hand cautiously on Max's back.

"Hey, you okay?" Chloe asked softly.

Max swallowed, unsure of how to answer. She wasn't sure if she was just 'okay'. Being that close to Chloe reminded her of the reason of why she'd gone to visit Chloe in the first place. Max had yet to tell Chloe the truth, and from the way that Chloe hadn't objected to staying with her, Max wondered about what Chloe thought of her now.

"Yeah. And…thanks, Chloe," Max said, turning to meet Chloe's eyes. "For last night," she added, and her heart ached at how close their faces were—she wished she had the guts to close that distance, but then Chloe leaned her forehead against hers.

"Anytime."

Before Max could react, Chloe pulled away and got up from the bed. She turned to Max, stretching and yawning. "C'mon, zombie Max. I got my secret lair I wanna show you today," Chloe said, grinning.

Max just rolled her eyes, but nonetheless found herself agreeing anyway. "Okay, Girl Wonder. Let's go to Chloe's Cave."

* * *

After they got dressed and prepared for the day, Chloe and Max headed back to Chloe's truck. On the ride to Chloe's secret lair, they stopped for breakfast at an IHOP (Max was adamant about not seeing Chloe's mom at Two Whales after what had happened yesterday). When Chloe finally pulled up to an old junkyard, Max was reminded of what David had said.

"This is the place David doesn't want you around?" Max asked incredulously—the place was old and dirty, for sure, but it didn't seem like some kind of dangerous hellhole.

Chloe snorted, parking her truck by the front entrance. "Yeah, the step-dick's so paranoid. Anyplace that isn't home, he thinks I'm either shooting up or I'm gonna die," Chloe scoffed, getting out of the car and slamming the door a little too forcefully. "Anyway, welcome to American Rust. My home away from Hell."

Max got out as well, looking around the junkyard. The large, outer yellow shell of a school bus rose out of an assortment of other rusty old scraps of junk on her left, and Max turned to her right to see a car perched precariously atop another pile of trash. In the middle of the junkyard, she spotted a glimpse of a concrete building behind a giant, blue, dilapidated boat.

 _Although this junkyard is a dive, I see why Chloe hangs here._   _She's a steam-punk._ Max took a few steps forward into the junkyard while she heard Chloe rummaging around for something in her truck. She knelt down to poke and push around a few metal hubcaps, watching them roll for a few feet before plopping back down into the dirt. _And it actually feels like Chloe and I are kids again, hiding out and plotting our future._

Max smiled to herself as she fondly recalled the memories of when her and Chloe had pretended to be pirate captains, prepared to journey around the world on a search for the greatest treasures of the earth.  _I feel so giddy hanging out with her again. So happy…like we've both gone back in time._

"Max, come on!" Chloe called, gesturing for Max to follow her. Max stood up, brushing the dirt off her jeans before following Chloe to the blue boat she saw earlier. She raised an eyebrow though, when she saw Chloe place a six-pack of beer on the edge of the rusty boat before hauling herself up onto its front deck.

"Come on, your turn," Chloe said, turning and kneeling on the edge of the boat, her hand held out for Max to hold onto.

Max huffed. "Oh yeah, beer and unstable structures. Great combo."

Chloe gave an exasperated sigh. "You can handle it, crybaby."

Max muttered something about tetanus before grudgingly reaching out and gripping Chloe's hand. Grabbing onto the edge of the boat with her other hand, Max nodded to Chloe to pull her up. She was surprised at just how strong Chloe was; she'd barely made any effort to climb up and yet Chloe didn't even appear out of breath hauling Max's entire weight up and over the edge of the boat.

Max let go of Chloe's hand, trying to hide her blush, and looked out over the junkyard from her new perspective. "Raw and rough…it suits you," she said, sitting down in one of the chairs and glancing around. Max saw railroad tracks behind the junkyard, and a small clearing beyond the bus she'd seen earlier.  _All this rusted metal makes me feel serene. Am I morbid, or just goth?_

Chloe popped open a bottle of beer and offered it to Max before taking a seat across the table from her. "Drink?"

"Yuck."

Chloe laughed before chugging a little herself. "You are so cute—you haven't changed a bit."

"Chloe, it's literally 11 AM in the morning," Max said, sighing but again trying to hide her blush.  _Chloe called me cute._

"Never too early to get hella turnt," Chloe drawled, taking another swig.

Max just sighed and leaned forward onto the table, resting her chin on her hands. Chloe seemed content to just relax and drink, so Max pulled out her journal again and began to doodle in it. She never really focused on what she was drawing, instead letting her mind wander and her hand following what it felt was best. It seemed like what she wanted drawn today was a reincarnation of Captain Chloe and Captain Max, valiantly traversing the junkyard on their rusted blue ship.

She didn't notice until she was finished that Chloe had been observing her draw the entire time.

"You draw in that a lot?" Chloe asked.

"Yeah. Why?" Max hoped Chloe wasn't going to ask her to draw her. One reason was because she got tired of people asking her that when they figured out she had artistic ability and another reason was because she'd drawn the Chloe in front of her twice now. That didn't count the times she'd drawn the old Chloe, either.

"Can you draw me?"

Max internally ascended to oblivion before heaving a sigh. She didn't even know why she tried anymore.

"Fine, Chloe, but just this once."

Flipping to a new page of her journal, Max looked at Chloe closely. Her dark blue beanie contrasted against the lighter, sky blue color of her hair, which matched the blue of her eyes. Reconsidering, Max pulled out a few pens for when she needed to color her lineart; she hoped she could capture the brilliance of Chloe's eyes and hair. She looked back up every now and then to look at Chloe again, and the entire time, Chloe stayed practically still.

After some time, Max finally sat back and breathed, putting her most recently used pen down. "There, Chloe. All yours." The amount of times she'd looked into Chloe's eyes—she'd remembered the angles and contours of Chloe's face a long time ago—never ceased to make her breathless. Chloe herself was just so beautiful, and Max found herself slightly frustrated that she hadn't been able to capture that as well in her drawing.  _Not like art is ever finished,_  Max thought ruefully.

Chloe reached forward and turned Max's journal to her, silent for several moments as she looked at her portrait. She was so quiet for so long that eventually Max began to think something was wrong.

"Do you not like it?

"No."

Max paused, waiting for an elaboration, but none came.

"Chloe, you gotta throw me a bone here."

Chloe turned away, and Max saw her grip on her beer bottle tighten slightly, the whites of her knuckles showing prominently.

"You can do all these cool things now, Max," she said softly. "You can take photos, draw, and I saw the guitar in your room. You're even at Blackwell Academy on a full scholarship," Chloe continued, her tone full of sadness. Max's heart clenched, and she ached to reach forward and hold Chloe's hand, to stop her from looking so downcast.

"You and me used to do everything together, remember? And now look at us," Chloe sighed, putting her bottle down and holding her head in her hands. "We're like complete opposites."

What Chloe said next made Max's heart ache with such an intensity that she wanted to cry right then and there.

"I wish we'd been together. I wish you hadn't left," Chloe whispered.

Max didn't know how to respond, knowing only that anything she said could never fix the time that she'd been outside of Chloe's life. She wished she could rewind time to that moment before she left, so she could stay with Chloe and never have to see the broken, depressed Chloe that she saw now.

Getting up and walking around the table, Max pulled Chloe from her seat and hugged her again, trying to hold together her best friend. She felt Chloe's arms wrap around her, Chloe's fists balling up the back of her jacket, Chloe's face burying into her hair, Chloe desperately trying to be closer to the one person who'd abandoned her so long ago.

Max almost said it then. She almost confessed the truth right then and there.

Something held her back. A small voice whispered in the back of her mind that now wasn't the time, nor place for it. Chloe was vulnerable—taking advantage of it would be wrong on so many levels.

After a few moments, Chloe pulled away, sniffling a little.

"You okay?" Max asked softly, reaching up and moving a stray strand of blue hair from Chloe's face.

"Yeah. Yeah, thanks, Max," Chloe said, not quite meeting her eye. She turned and walked to the edge of the boat before jumping off. "Let's blow. My super secret lair doesn't feel so super today." Max watched Chloe head towards the train tracks before she decided to jump off the boat too and follow.

She kept a respectful distance away as the two of them followed along the train tracks. They walked in silence for a few minutes, hearing nothing but the trees rustling in the wind and the sounds of a few birds chirping away. Eventually, Chloe stopped, putting her hands behind her head as she waited for Max to reach her.

Once Max did, Chloe lie down between the rails and Max joined her.

"I'm glad you're here, Max," Chloe said, closing her eyes.

"Me too."

After a few more moments of peace and quiet, Max heard Chloe sigh.

"Feels like a different world, huh? I wish we could stay forever."

Max wished for nothing more than that right now.

"Can we build another pirate fort and just keep the world out?" Max asked, shifting a little so she could look at Chloe.

Chloe opened her eyes and their eyes met for the briefest moment, and Max could see how tired, how worn, how exhausted Chloe looked.

"I wish we could," Chloe sighed. "It's so weird talking to you again. We haven't hung out this much since we were tweens."

Max nodded in agreement, since she didn't know what else to say. Just being there for Chloe…that's all Max wanted.

"I'm glad we're together again though," Max said tentatively, hoping that would cheer Chloe up somewhat.

She succeeded, as Chloe gave her a small smile.

"Railroad tracks always make me feel better," Chloe said, gazing towards the sky. "I have no idea why."

To that, Max had an answer.

"Keruoac knew. It's the romance of travel and movement," she said wistfully. "The sound of the train whistle at night—"

Chloe chuckled, and gave Max's knee a playful shove. "Look at the beat poet here."

Max smiled and shrugged, getting up. "I'd rather be a good photographer," she said, walking past Chloe a few steps.

She heard Chloe say from behind her, "You are. You just have to stop being afraid."

At that moment, Max spotted a blue butterfly flutter out of a clump of grass. It flew past her, and Max was taken in by the color on its wings—it was the same blue as Chloe's hair and eyes.  _Oh, if I could just get a picture of that butterfly-!_

Max followed the butterfly up a small hill and past a small, concrete building. The butterfly came to rest on a fence in front of the Arcadia Bay water tower, and Max quickly took out her camera.  _Just stay still…_

Just as she lined up the shot with the butterfly opening its wings, she whispered, "Perfect."

The second Max snapped the photo, she heard Chloe scream her name—

And then Max blacked out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so I'm going to be really busy the rest of this week and next week so I decided to post both 5 & 6 to cover both this week and next week. I'm really grateful for all your reviews, and it's motivated me to write the chapters sooner rather than later. Please keep reviewing, and thanks for reading! If things go according to plan, this fic will have roughly 9-10~ chapters. Just a little while longer, guys!


	7. Sunday Afternoon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Max must save Chloe before she's out of time.

 

**CHAPTER 7: SUNDAY AFTERNOON**

" _There's someone watching over her life._ "

_Crackles of thunder. The howl of a furious wind. Branches snapping and tree trunks creaking under the weight of heavy air. The chaotic swirl of debris._

_A tornado in the distance—larger than anything she'd ever seen. The vortex of aggressive winds and violent gales grows larger by the second as the massive giant of whirling air heads toward land. Its path of destruction is clear—it intends to move and consume everything, including the town in the distance._

_She has just enough time to catch glimpses of something else—a lighthouse, a ghostly white pillar emitting a pale, gray light. She's seen that lighthouse before._

_She suddenly realizes where she is._

* * *

Max gasped for breath, dropping her camera, as her mind tried to frantically comprehend what she'd just seen. She barely heard or even registered that her camera had just broken from its impact with the ground; her hands were shaking and Max had to bend over to catch her breath, to remain calm. Max felt like her senses had been overloaded, and she held her head in her hands, trying to pull her mind back to sanity.

_What the fuck…?! What just happened? And why did that feel so real?! That was a tornado heading straight for Arca-_

Max's panicked thoughts were cut short when she heard Chloe screaming her name.

" _Max! HELP!"_

Max whipped around and sprinted back down the hill, only to see Chloe frantically trying to pull some of the clasps on her boot from a part of the rail.

"Max, I'm stuck!"

Max took a few seconds to process what was happening—but the sudden blare of a train horn in the distance brought her mind straight back to reality.

"H-h-hold on, Chloe," Max gritted her teeth and pulled on Chloe's outstretched hands.  _Shit, no good. Chloe's stuck—I have to find another way to get her off the tracks!_

"I'm gonna find something to get you out," Max said, trying to keep her voice calm. She felt like anything but calm.

Max ran back up the hill, head turning this way and that to try and find something that could break Chloe free. She saw a crowbar leaning against some construction materials, and she quickly grabbed it—she wasn't sure about what she was going to use it for, but any tool was worth using at this point.

She heard Chloe give a panicked cry, and she cursed herself.  _Move faster!_

Max ran around to the door of the concrete building she saw earlier— _fuck, the door's locked_. Gritting her teeth, Max jammed the crowbar in between the door and door frame and forced it open. Inside, she saw several tool drawers to her right.

Max started whipping open all the tool drawers.

First one was empty.

Second one had some pieces of irrelevant paper. And a wire cutter—she could use this. Max pocketed it.

Another blare of the train horn.  _Hurry!_

Third one had nothing.

Max ran out of the building as fast as she could, leaping down from the hill and back down to Chloe.

Her heart was pounding loudly in her chest—the look of absolute terror on Chloe's face was enough to have Max feeling the adrenaline rush of panic and fear.

Max's eyes immediately zoomed in on a rail lever. Max looked down at Chloe and put two and two together— _If I could shift the rail, Chloe can have time to pull her boot clasps off of it—_

Sprinting towards the lever, Max pulled on it.  _Ugh! It won't budge—_

She turned to her left and saw a fuse box.  _There—!_

Max threw it open and swore.

_There's three wires—but which one's the one that I need to cut!?_

The train was coming, its horn blaring. Chloe's frantic screams set Max's feeling of terror to an all-time high.

She had to pick a wire to cut  _now_.

Yellow? Green? Or red?

The train was coming. Chloe was still stuck on the rails.

Max cut the yellow wire.

It was the wrong one. The lever didn't budge.

Max was out of time.

Chloe was going to die.

Everything seemed to happen in slow-motion; Max turned and saw Chloe, her eyes full of absolute terror and fear—the train horn was blaring, the train itself skidding on the rails as the conductor desperately tried to slow the train down— _No, no, no—! I can't lose Chloe now, please—!_

Tears rolled down her cheeks as Max took a step forward, dropping everything in her hands, trying to reach Chloe before the train could, trying to stop what was inevitable, that Chloe would die here, that she would watch Chloe die, that she would lose Chloe right when they'd been reunited—the last thing she heard was Chloe screaming—

An anguished, " _No!"_ left her lips as she raised her hand in a desperate attempt to somehow stop the train—

And suddenly, Max watched everything seem to reverse.

The train slowed down, stopping mere inches from Chloe, and then the train began to skid backwards, heading back down the way it came. She saw an almost afterimage version of herself pulling at the lever, then her afterimage moved back to the fuse box, un-cutting the yellow wire, and then she watched herself reverse leap back onto the hill, run backwards into the concrete building— _time was reversing_.

As long as her hand was raised, Max saw time go backwards, and the moment she put her hand back down, Max snapped back to that present.

Or, rather, she was suddenly back at the top of the hill, her camera smashing back onto the ground, her head held in her hands. A sharp stab of pain pierced her skull, and she winced, trying to comprehend what she'd just seen and experienced.

_What the fuck just happened?! I was…I was here, and then Chloe—_

" _Max! HELP!_ "

Max whipped around— _wait, this is real! I was just here!_

She sprinted down to Chloe, but the same thing she'd seen last time was repeating itself again here; Chloe was struggling to free herself, her voice frantic and panicked.

"Max, I'm stuck!"

_Wait, and I should hear the train horn right—_

Right on cue, the train horn blared in the distance, and Max suddenly realized what was happening.  _I have a second chance to fix this! Chloe doesn't have to die here—_

_This time power, my rewind power—I can use it to save Chloe!_

Max took a look at what she had now—she'd dropped everything right before the train had hit Chloe, meaning she didn't have any of the tools she'd gotten last time. Max sprinted back up the hill, grabbed the crowbar, broke into the building, grabbed the wire cutters, and headed back to the fuse box.

The overwhelming sense of repetition was happening—Chloe was still frantically struggling, trying to pull herself free, her anguished cries crushing Max's very soul.  _I have to save her this time, I have to-!_

It's not yellow.

Max had a fifty-fifty chance.

Green, or red wire?

Max cut the green wire.

It was the wrong one. The lever didn't budge.

She was out of time. Again.

And Chloe was going to die again.

 _No, not this time!_  Max thought fiercely, shoving the wire cutters in her bag. She held her breath and raised her hand again, praying that she still had the ability to rewind time—and time rewound for her.

* * *

Max snapped back to the present, gasping, her head pounding with pain. Her camera smashed back onto the ground, and Max gritted her teeth, trying to focus—everything hurt so much—

" _Max! HELP!"_

Trying to ignore the huge migraine in her head, Max staggered down to Chloe, watched her repeat the same struggle from before.

"Max, I'm stuck!"

_No. No. I'm not messing up this time._

She shoved her hand into her bag, searching for the wire cutters—and miraculously, they were still there.

Now she wouldn't waste time searching for them.

Now she knew which wire to cut.

Max cut the red wire.

It was the right one. The lever moved.

Pulling down hard on it, the rail shifted, and Chloe managed to release her boot from it just as the train barreled down the tracks.

Max's heart hammered away in her chest, her head pounding against her skull; Max gasped, her vision going blurry. Struggling to breathe, Max blindly stumbled away from the lever, uncomprehending of her surroundings. Max's mind was on fire not only from the multitude of thoughts that beat across her brain but also from whatever effort it had taken her to reverse time was taking its toll on her. She felt something running from her nose, and reaching up, Max raised a shaking hand in front of her to see blood. By this point, Max was having trouble seeing and focusing, and she barely understood that she was clearly in trouble, the blood on her hand a clear sign that her new power, wherever it had come from, was destroying her.

Once the entire length of the train had passed, Max briefly registered Chloe moving towards her in her peripheral vision. She tried to step towards Chloe, but felt herself losing more of her sense of sight—blackness was creeping on the edges of her vision, and she could barely see Chloe's lips moving. Chloe was saying something to her, but Max couldn't hear it, couldn't see it, couldn't feel it, and as she staggered towards Chloe, Max's last coherent thought in her mind was—

 _At least Chloe's alive_.

_Even if I might not be…_

And then Max passed out.

* * *

_Thunder booms in the distance as lighting flashes across the dark sky. Heavy rain accompanies the howling winds whipping the trees back and forth, their branches cracking and even snapping under the pressure._

_She comes to, feeling the cold, wet dirt under her cheek. Trying to catch her breath, she slowly stands up, holding her arms out against the wind._

Where am I? What's happening?

_She doesn't understand. She didn't feel like she was supposed to be here. She was supposed to be somewhere else. With someone else._

_But there was no one else but her._

I'm trapped in a storm? How did I get here? And where is "here"?

_Looking around, she attempts to get a sense of her bearings. She sees a lighthouse a little ways away, just up a hill._

Wait…There's the lighthouse…I'll be safe if I can make it there.

_She takes a few steps forward, arms braced against the winds that threaten to blow her away._

I hope…Please let me make it there.

_Making her way up the hill, she hears the sudden cracking of a tree about to fall, and she turns just in time to see it about to fall on her—reaching out instinctively, she watches the tree suddenly reverse, its trunk somehow seamlessly fitting back together. Rain drops about to hurtle towards the ground head back up to the sky, and she remembers a little bit now._

I can still reverse time here—wherever "here" is.

_She quickly moves past the tree before it can crush her, and makes it to the top. The lighthouse stands like a pale beacon in the dark sky, its ghostly light making its continuous, infinite revolutions despite the chaos billowing around it._

_Turning, she stops breathing—the massive tornado she'd seen earlier was still hurtling towards land, and she saw from a distance as the town's small port get torn to shreds as boats and wood went flying._

_A split second too late, she realizes one of the boats is headed straight for the lighthouse—before she can move, it crashes straight into it, bricks and pieces of white wall flying away. The top most part of the lighthouse suddenly falls forward, its support crumbling beneath it. She raises her hand one more time, panic rising in her chest, trying to stop the building from crushing her—_

* * *

Max gasped, her eyes snapping open. She instinctively grabbed for something, for anything to support her, and Max suddenly realized she was in Chloe's arms, her head against Chloe's shoulder.

She tried to open her mouth to say something, but the full force of her migraine came crashing back, and she winced, tightening her grip on Chloe's tank. She noticed the bloodstains from her nose on Chloe's clothing; at least now though, her nose had stopped bleeding. Chloe was running, her breathing ragged, her voice trying to sound reassuring as she attempted to convince herself that the girl in her arms was going to be okay.

"—worry, Max, I got you, you're gonna be okay—"

Max briefly registered that Chloe must still think that she was unconscious, that she wasn't okay, that she wasn't going to wake up—and she tugged lightly on Chloe's tank, trying to get her attention. If her voice wasn't going to cooperate, and if the massive headache she felt wasn't going to let up, she had to find some way to let Chloe know she was fine. Even through the physical pain she was experiencing, nothing compared to the way her heart suffered watching her best friend look and sound so anguished.

Chloe didn't notice, still running, and Max managed to see that Chloe was heading back towards the junkyard.

"—get Max to a hospital, I can do this—"

" _Chloe._ "

Max barely managed to whisper it, and she gritted her teeth.

"Chloe."

Max managed to say it louder this time, and Chloe came to a skidding halt in front of her truck.

_"Max?!"_

The look in Chloe's eyes right at that second was full of so much relief as she looked down at her that Max managed to give a small smile. Max reached up and held her hand against Chloe's face, the warmth so reassuring against her palm—Chloe was alive.

"Hey."

Still in Chloe's arms, Max felt Chloe's hold on her tighten, and a breathless laugh escaped Chloe's lips, her eyes watering a little. Max had never felt more relieved and joyful at seeing Chloe, and hearing her best friend laugh again gave her heart a small leap of happiness.

"Hey, yourself," Chloe whispered. She leaned her head into Max's hand, her eyes never leaving Max's.

"You're alive," Max said softly, loving the feeling of touching Chloe again. Chloe was really here—Chloe's arms felt solid and firm around her, the rise and fall of Chloe's chest a clear indicator that Max wasn't dreaming.

Chloe's face broke into that shit-eating grin that she loved to see, and despite all that had just happened, Chloe still managed to shed some positive light on the situation—thought Max could tell that the grin didn't quite reach her eyes.

"Yeah, I am. Remember? We're unstoppable when we're together," she laughed, her voice wavering just slightly. The both of them were shaken by what had just happened; death had been so close at their heels, and it was a miracle they were both alive.

"Thanks for saving me. Now we're totally bonded for life," Chloe said, smiling.

Max gave a breathless laugh. "I'm just glad that you're okay."  _Bonded for life…_ The words echoed in Max's head and she tried not to think too hard about what Chloe had meant by them.

Chloe moved around to the back of her truck, still holding Max in her arms, and after unlatching the tailgate, hopped into it and sat down, her back against one of the walls of the bed. Max adjusted herself in Chloe's lap before wrapping her arms around her best friend, pressing her face into the crook of Chloe's neck. She felt Chloe hug her back, and Max began to relax a little more, knowing that Chloe was safe and well. A small part of her whispered and asked what she was doing, but Max ignored it-she wanted to enjoy the comfort of Chloe's arms just a little longer, and after today, she wasn't going to take any chances of missing out on any other close moments with her best friend.

They both sat in peace for a moment, just enjoying each other's well-being.

Max was the first to break the silence after remembering something.

"Shit…I dropped my camera back there," she said, pulling away and frowning.

"We can go back and get it," Chloe said immediately, making to move.

Max grabbed her sleeve. "Chloe, it's fine. It got broken anyway. It was getting old," she said, trying not to sound too down about it. It hadn't been her first camera, but it had been one of her favorite ones.  _And it's small price to pay for saving Chloe's life._

Chloe looked at her then, and Max could see Chloe was thinking.

"Hey, I have an idea," Chloe said, moving so that both her and Max could get out of the truck. She gestured for Max to get back into the cab, and after Chloe revved up the engine and started driving, Max asked where they were going.

"My place," Chloe said. "There's something I want to show you."

The next thing Chloe said, she said so quietly that Max was unsure if it was directed towards her or if Chloe was just saying it to herself.

"And there's something I want to tell you."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not entirely satisfied with this chapter, because I don't feel comfortable writing action scenes atm. Again, thank you for reading! And thank you for the kind reviews. I'm glad what I'm trying to convey is coming across nicely. And surprise, I managed to upload on Saturday. I found some free time to write during work, and I really like the idea of uploading two chapters at once, so here's another two chapters! I am sorry about the way I inconsistently upload, lol; do you guys prefer more consistent weekly uploading or would you prefer me to do it the way I am now, just uploading when I'm done writing/editing a chapter?
> 
> Also, leave a review if you can-they're really encouraging!


	8. Sunday Evening

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Max and Chloe head back to Chloe's place to recollect over the day's events.

**CHAPTER 8: SUNDAY EVENING**

" _Do you say now, or never, or never too late?"_

On the drive there, Max went over the day's events in her mind, trying to make sense of it. The vision, her rewind power—they were related, but how? And why? She debated with herself about whether she should tell Chloe; it sounded so unreal. Even she couldn't believe it had happened—but it did.

"Chloe, I need to tell you something," Max said. Chloe glanced towards her to let her know she was listening. "It's going to sound crazy, but I need you to hear me out."

"Sure."

Taking a deep breath, she told her story, starting from when she'd snapped the photo of the butterfly, to her vision, to her ability to rewind time. Chloe had listened attentively at the beginning, but the moment Max spoke about her rewind power, Chloe became skeptical.

"Ok, so you want me to believe that I  _died_  twice, and the reason why I'm not dead now is because you rewound time and saved me," Chloe said deadpan.

"It's true—!"

"Right, and I'm pretty sure you're still trippin' over your blackout earlier today," Chloe snorted.

Max leaned back in her seat, hands rubbing at her temples. She had to find a way to prove to Chloe that she could rewind time. She might not believe in the vision of the tornado, but Max was sure she could get Chloe to believe in her new power.

"Ok, look, pull over and I'll prove that I can rewind time to you," Max said.

Chloe cast her a sideways glance, an eyebrow raised, but did as she asked.

Max swallowed, hoping she wasn't going to mess this up.

"I'm going to tell you the color of the next couple of cars that come by," she said, mentally preparing herself for when she'd have to rewind. She wasn't sure if rewinding caused the headaches or just rewinding  _a lot_  caused the headaches, but either way, Max wanted to be sure she wasn't going to pass out again.

The first car that drove by was red.

The next was a dark green.

After that, the next car was black.

Another car came around, this time colored a metallic gray.

Chloe sat there, glancing around. "Ok…so, was something supposed to happen?"

Max took a deep breath, and raised her hand—the cars she'd just seen suddenly zoomed backwards, and when the first car disappeared back around the corner, Max stopped rewinding. She was relieved when her head didn't feel like exploding—she concluded that rewinding multiple times in quick succession stressed her power to the limit. Max made a mental note of her power's limitation.  _Now, it's time to blow Chloe's mind._

"There's going to be a red car, a dark green one, a black one, and then a gray car that are going to come," Max said breathlessly, hoping this wouldn't backfire.

Chloe just rolled her eyes, skeptical. "Sure, Max." But she too watched the road attentively, and Max held her breath.

The first car came around the corner again. Red.

A dark green car zoomed past.

Max saw Chloe's eyes widen, just a little.

Black.

Gray.

"Holy shit," Chloe whispered.

Chloe leaned back in her seat, mouth open, and she turned to Max with an expression of such shock and surprise that Max burst out laughing.

"Told you I could rewind time," she said, giving a smug smile.

"Ok, ok, so that was hella sick," Chloe said, completely stunned. "But…I want something more," and Max recognized that look on Chloe's face—that look of excitement and eagerness, that look that showed when Chloe wanted to play adventure.

"I want more proof that you can rewind time," Chloe said eagerly, and Max was strongly reminded of an overzealous puppy.

"This isn't a toy, Chloe. I do have to be careful how I use it. I think it's the reason why I passed out today," Max said cautiously, raising her hand up to her nose to see if she was bleeding again; thankfully, her nose was fine.  _Ok, so just small rewinds every now and then, I can handle that._

Chloe's expression immediately became concerned, but Max could still see that playful spark in Chloe's eyes.

"If you're not up for it, I get it. I just want to see it again. That was super cool, super Max," Chloe said, grinning at the end.

Max rolled her eyes and sighed.  _Blowing Chloe's mind_ was _totally awesome…_

"Fine, but if I pass out again, it's your fault," Max reached forward to turn on the radio. "I'll tell you what the guys on the radio are going to say."

Chloe leaned forward, almost jumping with excitement.

 _"Evenin', Arcadia Bay. This is DJ Dontnod, giving you the local news report before we listen in on some cool music._ "

Max listened attentively, trying to remember everything.

 _"Weather this evenin' is going to be a cool seventy degrees, with later tonight getting' down to the low sixties,"_  the DJ drawled, and Max leaned in, making mental notes in her mind.

" _There was a small traffic accident down by the 101, might set you back about twenty minutes. Also, the Blackwell Bigfoots will have their first football game on soon, facin' off against the Waldport Irish."_ Chloe opened her mouth to say something, but Max sat back and turned the radio off.

Chloe sat there, bewildered, but before she could say anything, Max took a deep breath and raised her hand again—she heard the radio bizarrely sound back in reverse, before putting her hand down.

"Ok, so, DJ Dontnod's going to say the weather's going to go from the seventies to the sixties later tonight, and then he'll report a traffic accident on the 101 before telling us that the Bigfoots are playing against the Irish later," Max spilled out quickly.

Chloe looked at her, and then to the radio, keeping quiet as DJ Dontnod repeated almost exactly what Max had forecast.

Max raised her hand to her nose again—her head felt fine, and relief washed through her when she realized her nose wasn't running again. As soon as DJ Dontnod finished his news report, Chloe reached forward and turned the radio off.

"I pledge allegiance to Max, and the power for which she stands," Chloe said in awe, mock bowing to Max in the small, enclosed space of the cab.

"So you believe me now?" Max said, raising an eyebrow.  _That was totally awesome. But I shouldn't push it any farther—I don't want to go using up all of my power too soon._

"Yeah, totally!" Chloe said, grinning. "That was hella fucking awesome," Chloe continued, starting the truck and getting back onto the road. Max felt a little bit of satisfaction, and she tried to resist smiling.  _She totally believes me now!_

"Dude, you could bang anyone with no strings attached, rewind, and boom! It's like it never happened!" Chloe said excitedly, practically bouncing in her seat.

Max scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Grow up."

Chloe came to a stop at a stop sign and turned to her then, eyes wide.

"Maybe you made a move on me and I would never know!"

If Max was being honest with herself, she'd thought about that multiple times, but the violation of trust and consent was more than enough for her to never seriously consider doing it. And besides…It wouldn't feel right to remember something that Chloe didn't, especially when it came to the two of them.

"Yes, that's what I did," Max said sarcastically. "Keep your eyes on the road, Chloe."

The entire rest of the time back to Chloe's, Chloe persistently kept up a stream of questions. First, she asked if the power was just something she activated by a spell or just by thinking it, and Max answered it happened when she raised her right hand, and then Chloe fired off another question about how far she could go back, to which Max responded that it was probably a few minutes at most, and the stream of questions kept coming until they finally arrived at her house.

"Ok, dude, I literally just got my power a little while ago. I still don't even understand it, so ease up on the questions, okay?" Max asked, getting out and shutting the door before following Chloe to the front door.

"Sorry, I know, but it's still so cool! I get my best friend back,  _and_  she's supersized?" Chloe grinned at her then, eyes bright with delight. "Don't you know how sick that is?"

"We don't know for how long, Chloe," Max muttered.  _Best friend…_ They'd gone from strangers, to friends, to best friends, within the span of forty-eight hours. Max wondered just how fast their relationship was going to accelerate, and she stopped herself there. She didn't want to push her luck—especially after what had happened today.

They entered the house—Max thankfully noted it was empty, as she wasn't sure she could handle Joyce's disappointment—and then headed up to Chloe's room.

"So, you said you wanted to show me something?" Max asked, closing the door behind them. She noticed the orange rays of sunset pouring in through Chloe's windows, lighting up the small dust motes around the room and basking the room in a warm, golden glow.

Chloe had started rummaging for something on the shelves beneath her stereo, and Max noted that Chloe paused for a few moments, looking at something in her hands.

"Chloe?"

She saw Chloe take a deep breath before turning around.

"This is my real father's camera…I want you to have it," Chloe said quietly, handing it out to Max.

"I…can't take this, Chloe," Max said, gratified and humbled at the same time.

"Max, you hella saved my life back there," Chloe said firmly, pushing the camera into Max's hands. "You deserve it, and my dad would be pissed if I never used it, and now I know it'll be used awesomely," she said, giving a small smile.

"Chloe…" Max knew just how much William had meant to Chloe. Giving this to her, the girl who'd abandoned her so long ago and left her alone to fend for herself…This was huge, and Max knew it. And she also knew that she didn't deserve this. Didn't deserve Chloe's love...

Chloe stepped forward, and she wrapped Max's hands around the camera.

"Max," Chloe whispered, and Max looked up, their faces so agonizingly close.

Chloe's beauty was so breathtaking, and Max felt her heart ache—she knew that years could pass between them and she would always find Chloe beautiful, inside and out. Chloe was brave, determined, courageous—better than Max could ever be. But Max wanted to be closer so badly, she wanted to be in Chloe's arms again, she wanted to be with Chloe again, just the two of them against the world.

"Tell me the truth, Max," Chloe said softly, never looking away. "How do you feel about me?"

Max knew exactly how she felt about Chloe. She'd known for years.  _Tell her the truth, Max._

"I've always loved you, Chloe," Max whispered, her chest constricting as she could feel the tears begin to form. "Even before I left," she choked out, her hands tightening around the camera.

Max saw pain twist Chloe's expression, and her heart wrenched in her chest, about to break from seeing Chloe's suffering.

" _Then why didn't you tell me?_ " Chloe almost sobbed, and she took the camera away from their hands, almost throwing it on the desk before roughly grabbing the collar of Max's jacket. " _Why?"_

Chloe's hands were shaking, her face contorted with pain, with heartbreak.  _The truth, Max—you promised._ Max's chest was tightening, her throat constricting, and she felt herself begin to wrack with sobs.

"Because you deserve better," Max gasped, tears falling down her face. "You deserve someone who won't leave you alone, who won't abandon you, who won't—"

" _Shut up!_ " Chloe's grip on Max's jacket tightened, and despite Chloe's harsh, abrasive tone, she too was crying, her shoulders shaking, her entire body trembling from emotion.

Max's heart was breaking inside her chest, watching Chloe's agony from the past five years finally come to the surface.

Max lifted her hands and cupped Chloe's face, unable to stand the sight of her in pain. They were both so broken—broken from each other, broken from years of separation, broken from unspoken confessions. Their eyes met, and Max leaned forward, yearning to reconnect—

_The truth._

Max felt Chloe's hands loosen on her jacket, and then one hand lightly on the back of her neck, tilting her head upward, the other hand moving down and to the small of her back, bringing Max's body forward. The distance between them closed, and Max felt Chloe's lips on hers, warm but rough, the two of them trying to overcome their emotions; Max trying to get over her fear of being unwanted, Chloe trying to get over her hurt of abandonment. Max's hands went downward, gripping Chloe's tank, trying to bring her closer, and they broke apart for a second, both taking a moment to breathe before Max kissed Chloe again, more forcefully than the last.

Chloe pulled back slightly, biting at Max's bottom lip before growling, "Took you long enough, Caulfield," and started leaving a trail of kisses down Max's neck.

Max managed to draw a gasp of air then, her thoughts completely askew.  _This shouldn't be happening—Chloe deserves better—_

Max raised her hand to rewind, but immediately felt a vice-like grip clamp down on her right arm, and suddenly Chloe was there in front of her face, snarling.

"Don't you  _dare_  rewind _,"_  Chloe growled, blue eyes blazing. "You deserve me, Max," she hissed, and before Max could respond, Chloe's lips collided into hers, hungry and wanting for more, and Max lost all self-control she had, a small noise coming from the back of her throat. She kissed back just as passionately, one hand reaching up to run through Chloe's blue hair, tugging off Chloe's beanie, the other hand running downward to grip Chloe's tank to bring Chloe with her towards the bed. They staggered across the floor, their lips breaking apart momentarily as Max fell backward, her back pressed completely against the bed, and Chloe climbed on top of her, eyes fierce and alive.

They were both breathing raggedly, chests heaving. The momentary pause from their passionate kisses gave them both time to truly look at each other—Max's face was bright red, and Chloe's hair was messy and disheveled; both were gazing at the other, their unsteady breaths the only sound in the room. Reaching up, Max gently held Chloe's face in her hands, and her heart ached at all the pain and anger Chloe had felt for the past five years. Something must've showed on Max's face—her regret—and Chloe's expression softened, and she leaned down, pressing her lips softly against Max's, gentle and warm and loving…and forgiving.

As Chloe pulled away, she rolled onto her side, lying down next to Max. Max turned so they were facing each other, and Chloe leaned her head forward so their foreheads were touching. Reaching her right hand towards Chloe's left, Max interlaced their fingers together, her breath caught in her throat as something seemed to align in the world.  _Together again._

"Even though you're a big, stupid, idiot," Chloe breathed, her blue eyes brilliant in the dim light of her room, "I still love you too, Max Caulfield."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not sure exactly where Arcadia Bay is in Oregon, so excuse any geography errors lol. Also, I totally fucked up the timing—two weeks before they meet in-game is Max's birthday, which was on Saturday. So technically yesterday was Max's b-day. Woops. If I ever get around to rewriting this fic, I'll make sure to account for continuity errors lol. I'm also sorry—writing smut is really out of my comfort zone, but I hope the emotion came out correctly. Hoping to get more practice writing intimate scenes, but at the moment, here's what I have lol. I really wanted to convey Chloe's anger-she was alone for a long time, and no one gets over that so easily. Thanks for reading and reviewing, again!


	9. Sunday Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Max attempts to understand both her new power, and her relationship with Chloe.

**CHAPTER 9: SUNDAY NIGHT**

" _Can't stop your light from reaching my eyes._ "

" _I still love you too, Max Caulfield."_

The words repeated themselves in Max's mind, echoing for infinity. She could barely concentrate on her book—not that she could understand quantum physics, anyway—and took a deep breath, trying to focus her scattered thoughts. The day's events had left her mind in a fragile state, and she wasn't even sure if anything that had happened today was real. Max still went over it in her brain, repeating it almost endlessly, wondering if it was fate that her and Chloe were meant to be together…

_Max almost started crying again when Chloe had said those words that she'd imagined hearing over and over, but never believing that they'd ever be real. How could they be, after five years? After all this time…_

_"How can you?" Max whispered, unbelieving. This couldn't be real, yet Max could feel Chloe's hand in hers, could see the tangled strands of Chloe's blue hair, could see the rise and fall of Chloe's chest, could see the brightness of Chloe's eyes. Chloe was here, and Chloe loved her back. Why wasn't that enough?_

_In response, Chloe leaned forward then, bringing Max into a deeper kiss than before, a sense of need and want being passed between them. When they broke apart, breathless, Chloe's expression still held the remnants of bitterness, of anger, mixed with revived feelings of love, of yearning._

_"I tried to hate you, when you left," Chloe said, voice barely audible. "I couldn't."_

_Max's heart twisted painfully in her chest._

_"I'd thought I'd gotten over you…but then you came back," Chloe continued, and she pulled her hand away from Max's, only to reach forward and gently brush a strand of hair away from Max's face._

_A small, almost sad, smile appeared on Chloe's face. "I guess you could say I fell for you again."_

" _But I left you alone, Chloe!" Max sat up, pulling her knees to her chest and burying her face in her arms, trying anything to convince herself that she didn't deserve someone like Chloe. "You had to deal with David by yourself, had to—"_

" _Max," Chloe cut her off sharply. Feeling Chloe shift on the bed, Max suddenly felt Chloe's arms around her. And then, softly, Chloe said to her, "I forgive you."_

_Max looked up then, disbelieving, her eyes meeting Chloe's._

" _You're back now, that's what matters. And we can't change the past that far back," Chloe continued, giving Max a quick kiss on the cheek._

_As much as she wanted to disagree, Max could feel her hesitations slipping away. All she could do now was just make it up to Chloe. She leaned into Chloe's side, head against Chloe's shoulder as she gave a sigh._

" _Thanks for forgiving me," Max said quietly. "I won't leave you again, Chloe," she continued, voice a little bit stronger. Determination swept through Max's chest, and she resolved to do better from here on. Though she couldn't rewind far enough to stop herself from leaving Arcadia Bay, Max knew she had a second chance to be with Chloe and she had no intentions of wasting it. Whether or not she deserved Chloe…that was another matter—but Max knew that she wanted Chloe, and Chloe wanted her, and only time would be able to tell whether or not in the end, if they deserved each other._

_Chloe kissed the top of her head. "You have all the time in the world to prove that," she responded, laughing._

_After noticing the time, Max noted reluctantly that she had school tomorrow. Chloe rolled her eyes, but nonetheless drove Max to her dorm; before leaving the house though, Chloe put Max's new camera in her bag. The look she gave Max was clear—it was hers. When they got back to Blackwell, Chloe parked the car and offered to walk Max back to her dorm, and Max found herself agreeing. A few more moments with Chloe before they separated couldn't hurt…_

" _Leaving me already? You just promised you wouldn't," Chloe said jokingly as she walked Max back to her dorm._

_Max's expression must've looked so pained at that moment—she hadn't thought of that—that Chloe immediately backpedaled._

" _Hey, I get it. School's school. Gotta learn and shit," Chloe said, pulling Max into her arms for a warm hug._

" _Sorry," Max mumbled anyway, wrapping her arms around Chloe, burying her face into her shoulder. Being in Chloe's arms just…felt right._

" _Do I get a goodbye kiss?" Chloe asked, and Max could tell without even looking that Chloe had that signature shit-eating grin on her face. Max just rolled her eyes, but if she was being honest with herself, she'd been hoping Chloe would kiss her goodbye before they went their separate ways for the night._

_Max pulled away slightly, standing on her toes so she could reach up and pull Chloe into a deep kiss, more meaningful and emotional. They pulled away, breathless, before Chloe leaned forward again, her lips warm against Max's, and Max's hands reached up and pulled on the collar of Chloe's blazer, bringing her closer. She felt one of Chloe's hands intertwining with her hair and the other hand trailing up her spine, and Max shivered, her lips parting slightly to take a breath of air. Giving her no reprieve, Chloe's tongue slipped into her mouth, and for a moment, the two wrestled for dominance; a low moan came from the back of Max's throat, and she could feel Chloe's lips against hers turning into a smirk._

_Something dimly registered in Max's brain that they were making out in public, right in front of her dorm, where anyone could see, and she pulled away, panting._

" _That was definitely more than a goodbye kiss," she said, her face red, and Chloe burst out laughing._

" _I'll pick you up after school tomorrow. I have another place I wanna go to," Chloe grinned, completely nonchalant at Max's embarrassed appearance, before leaning forward and giving Max a quick kiss on the cheek. Shifting out of her blazer, Chloe put it around Max's shoulders. "Something to remember me by," she said, winking._

" _Really, Chloe? We're going to see each other tomorrow," Max said, but nonetheless wrapped the blazer closer around her, trying to hide the fact that she was still breathing heavily. She could still remember the rush of Chloe's lips on hers, and she cursed herself at how easily Chloe could make her flustered and unthinking._

" _Sweet, it's a date," Chloe replied before turning and walking away, waving her hand lazily behind her._

Max breathed a shaky sigh, putting her elbow on the desk before leaning her hand on her hand. After that, she'd headed back to her room and gotten prepared for the night, putting Chloe's blazer up in her closet. She'd then texted Warren and asked him to bring her as many things about time travel as he could—he'd arrived promptly with an armload of sci-fi movies and books but also with a mouthful of questions. Max tried to dodge them as well as she could, lying and passing off her sudden interest in time travel as a self-project. After managing to finally dismiss Warren—she made a mental note to establish better boundaries with him later—Max had sat down and had tried to comb through several tomes of quantum physics and time travel theories, doing her best to make sense of her newfound power.

Despite her struggles, Max was having difficulty concentrating, her thoughts askew. Everything that had happened today had happened so fast. First, the rewind power, then suddenly her and Chloe were…together?  _Are we girlfriends now?_  The thought sounded strange in her head, like the term was too light for the enormity of what she felt about Chloe.  _Lovers? That doesn't sound right either._

Max leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms over her chest as she stared out the window to the left of her desk. The moon shone brightly in the clear, dark sky, its silver light casting black shadows across the front lawn of her dorm. Looking outside, she was reminded of the cold night air, and she shivered—though her dorm was somewhat insulated from the outside, it was still early enough in the school year that they hadn't turned on the heaters. Standing up, Max made her way to her closet, pulling Chloe's blazer out and holding it in her hands. She hesitated for a moment before putting it on her again, and she breathed a sigh as she held the collar up to her nose; the smell of Chloe lingered on the black cloth. Naturally, the scent of smoke hung around it, but just underneath it was the scent of the salty air of the ocean, a reminder of their time as pirates and pretend-seafarers.

_Whatever we are, we're together, and that's what matters._

Max headed back to her desk and sat down in the chair, rolling the sleeves of the blazer above her elbows. Reaching forward, Max picked up a pencil in her hand, twirling it between her fingers as she gazed down at the tumultuous pile of sticky notes over her desk, each note cataloging a piece of information that might be relevant to her powers.

 _Despite all the chaos and bullshit, I'm glad I have Chloe to help me figure all of this out._ If _we can figure this out…_

Max spent a few more minutes trying to process the text-heavy tome in front of her, but considering her background in physics was rusty, she gave up eventually, putting her pencil down and rubbing her eyes. Just then, her phone vibrated on her desk, and she picked it up, curiously looking at the screen and wondering who'd be texting her at 1 AM at night—Kate had a normal sleep schedule, unlike everyone else, and Warren was probably gaming himself into oblivion.

It was a message from Chloe—Max had forgotten she'd given Chloe her number this morning when they'd gone to get breakfast.

" _max_

_time-traveling superhero_

_marry me"_

Rolling her eyes, Max quickly responded back.

" _Illegal in Oregon. For now."_

She saw the small speech bubble appear on the screen, showing that Chloe was typing.

" _fuq that shit_

_elope"_

Max burst out laughing at Chloe's bluntness. Suddenly, Max had an idea.

" _What are you doing up so late?"_

There was a slight pause before Chloe's reply came back.

" _wut r u doing up? U hve school remember"_

Grinning, Max texted back her reply.

" _Just thinking of you. ;)"_

Max giggled as she tapped the 'Send' button, a satisfied smirk on her face.  _Hah, Chloe. Your turn to look like an idiot._  Chloe always had that ability to scatter Max's thoughts with just a simple look, or a touch—or more recently, a kiss. She knew that Chloe thought she was smooth, so Max was eager to know what Chloe was like when the tables were turned.

She was disappointed then when Chloe didn't respond, leaving Max to think that Chloe had fallen asleep, and she heaved an exasperated sigh before returning to her time studies. So much for her attempt to be smooth. Max managed to plow through one textbook—not that she'd understood everything—before deciding to give up for the night. Max collected her sticky notes onto a single page, carefully storing the page next to her wall; someday, she'd understand the truth, but as of right now, her brain was fried and she was tired as hell. Standing up and stretching, Max let out a yawn. Checking the time on her phone, she noted it was around 2 AM.  _Damn. There goes my sleep schedule._

She turned off the lights to her room and pulled down the blinds to her windows before sliding into the covers on her bed. Turning onto her side, Max raised a hand up to her memorial wall; she could just vaguely make out the selfie she'd taken of Chloe and her. Bringing her hand back down, Max wrapped Chloe's blazer tightly around her; though it wasn't quite the same as falling asleep in Chloe's arms, Max was content enough to at least fall asleep to the same scent.

Just as she was starting to drift into her dreams, Max heard a sharp  _tack_  on her window. There was brief pause, before another  _tack_  hit the window. Sitting up, Max squinted in the darkness before another sharp  _tack_  reached her ears. Max picked up her phone and stood up, using the light from the dim screen as a way to navigate across her room and to the window. She pushed aside the blinds just as another  _tack_  hit the window, and Max realized that someone was throwing pebbles to get her attention.  _If this is who I think it is…_ Groaning, Max opened her window and looked down to see Chloe standing beneath her in the yard, the moonlight almost causing the blue hair outside of her beanie to glow. The moment she saw Max, Chloe's mouth broke into a wide grin, the whites of her teeth gleaming. Max could barely make out that Chloe was wearing a dark blue plaid flannel and a pair of gray sweatpants.

"Chloe, what the fuck are you doing?" Max whispered loudly, glancing around the front yard to see if anyone else had woken up.

"Lemme in and I'll tell you," Chloe said, and even in the dim light of the moon, Max could see Chloe winking.

Shutting the window, Max left her room to let Chloe in; the moment she opened the front door, Chloe was there, classic shit-eating grin on her face.

"You said you were thinking of me. Thought you might want the real thing," Chloe said, reaching forward and grabbing Max's hand before leading the both of them back to Max's room. Chloe shut the door before turning around and pressing closer to Max, leaving Max's back in contact with the door.

She pinned Max's hand against the door as well before leaning in closely, whispering, "And it looks like you did want the real thing." Chloe's other hand tugged lightly at her blazer, and Max felt the heat rise to her cheeks; her plan to be smooth completely backfired, and giving up, Max's free hand reached upwards to pull Chloe in for a kiss.

Chloe's lips were eager and warm against hers, and as they broke apart, Chloe leaned in for another kiss until a finger came up to her lips.

"One, you're an asshole, Chloe," Max breathed, breathless. She swallowed, trying to focus her thoughts away from the way Chloe was pouting, and the way she bit her lip was so irresistible— _focus, Max._  "Two, kisses are earned, not given," she continued, easing her hand out from under Chloe's and getting back into her bed.  _Chloe's not going to have me that easily._

Her best friend stood there, looking sulky.

Sighing, Max reached forward and pulled Chloe onto the bed with her. "You're such a crybaby," she murmured, settling into Chloe's lap before pressing her lips gently against Chloe's neck. A sense of contentment washed over her as she snuggled in closer to her partner, her head against Chloe's shoulder.

"At least I'm your crybaby," Chloe chuckled, pressing a kiss to the top of Max's head. Max rolled her eyes, but nonetheless felt a sense of satisfaction.  _Hers._

_And I've always been Chloe's. Ever since…_

"So, " Chloe said, one arm wrapped under Max, the other reaching out and intertwining their hands together, "When did you figure out you liked me?" Chloe had just read her mind.

Max felt herself blushing then, the memories from long ago resurfacing in her mind.

"Ok, remember the last pillow fort we built? The one so big that we got banned from making forts ever again?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Just…" Max hesitated, trying to figure out what she wanted to say. That moment was so long ago, but she remembered it so clearly. After successfully balancing several couch cushions into a tower and connecting various blankets across the corners of their fort, the pair had crawled through the various tunnels of pillows and sheets until they'd found a small clearing surrounded by a wall of cushions. As they laid down onto the floor, cheeks flushed from their efforts, Max had looked at Chloe then—Chloe's blue eyes so bright and alive, regardless of lighting—and felt her heart beating in her chest, felt the sense of belonging and…home. Max realized then that she wanted to be with Chloe, through thick and thin, through rain or storm; wherever Chloe went, she would follow. As long as the two were together, Max knew they were unstoppable, invincible.

"When we finished the fort and went inside it, you just looked like," Max struggled for the words to say, "So  _bright._  It's like you were the sun."

To her surprise, Chloe laughed. "Damn. You really are a poet."

"Seriously, Chloe! It's just that…in that moment I just…knew I wanted to be with you," Max finished, her voice almost a whisper at the end.  _I wonder how different our lives would be if I'd just told her that then._

"Aw, Max," Chloe cooed, leaning her head down to press kisses along Max's cheek and neck, "I love you too."

Hearing those words again had Max's heart pounding faster in her chest, and she couldn't help but smile; just knowing that Chloe loved her back was more than enough to lift her spirits. "I love you too, Chloe."

She giggled as Chloe pulled away, grinning that grin that she loved so much.

"Do I get a kiss for that?" Chloe asked, an arrogant smirk on her lips.

"And, just like that, moment ruined," Max groaned half-jokingly, pulling away from Chloe and lying down on her bed, turning to face the wall. "Seriously though, I need to sleep if I'm going to stay awake tomorrow."

Without even looking, Max could tell that Chloe was pouting. "You'll get a kiss tomorrow if you let me sleep tonight," Max yawned, reaching down to pull a blanket over her.

Grumbling, Chloe settled in behind her, wrapping her arms around Max's torso. Max felt Chloe breathing softly on the back of her neck, and she was comforted by Chloe's presence—as much as she hated to admit it, having Chloe by her side just felt…so right.

She heard Chloe mumble something, but her attempt to turn over and look at her best friend was stopped as Chloe's arms wrapped more tightly around her.

"Chloe…?" Max asked tentatively, worry in her voice.

"I like kissing you and holding you because it lets me know you're really here," Chloe said softly, her face pressed against Max's back. "It's just that…having you here again feels like…"

"Destiny?" Max whispered, and she managed to turn around this time to see Chloe looking away from her, a faint blush on her cheeks. Max shifted so that she was facing Chloe, and she gently reached one hand up to brush away a strand of hair from Chloe's face. Leaning forward, Max's lips brushed against Chloe's, before Chloe pulled Max in for a much deeper kiss, leaving them both breathless.

"Whatever happens to us now, Max," Chloe breathed, looking into Max's eyes, "Promise me—don't go. Please."

Putting her forehead gently against Chloe's, Max gazed back into those blue eyes and saw that same spark of life, of energy, of  _love,_ and Max knew for certain now what her answer would be.  _Together again. And always._

"I promise."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some practice in setting descriptions, because I noticed I've been poor at describing places and scenes. Anyway, here's the final story chapter of this fic. Thanks for sticking it out with me and reading my first fic in a while!


	10. Epilogue: Monday Afternoon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's a future for the both of them, Max knows it. She just has to figure it out.

**EPILOGUE: MONDAY AFTERNOON**

" _We won't let go of hope, of our dreams_."

Max woke up the next morning from the sound of her phone alarm, and she groggily sat up, rubbing at her eyes. She looked down to see Chloe sleeping next to her, her chest rising and falling. Reaching over Chloe, Max shut off her phone alarm before gently shaking Chloe awake.

Chloe grumbled for a few moments, taking Max's other pillow and throwing it over her upper body, hiding her face from view. Rolling her eyes, Max got up around Chloe and began to prepare for the day. Walking across the room, she threw open the blinds, letting in a torrent of sunlight; she heard Chloe groan from across the room, burrowing further under her blankets. Smiling, Max shook her head, and then a part of her wondered if this was representative of what living with Chloe would be like in the future. Blushing slightly, Max shook her head at herself.  _Thinking way too far into the future, Max._

After that, she went and took a shower, and by the time she came back, Max found Chloe sitting up in her bed, yawning, her extra pillow in her arms.

"Morning, sleepyhead," Max said, grinning, bending down to give Chloe a quick peck on the cheek, placing Chloe's blazer next to her on the bed.

Chloe gave her a sleepy smile in response. "I'll come by when your classes end," she said, leaning her head back against the wall and closing her eyes. "Have fun at school," Chloe sighed.

"Sure," Max said, gathering up her things and putting them into her bag. Chloe looked so at peace at that moment, that Max hated the thought of leaving her. Biting her lip, Max hesitated for a moment before pulling out her camera and snapping a photo of Chloe looking so serene and tranquil in the morning light. Chloe opened her eyes then, frowning a little at Max as she put the photo in her bag, but didn't say anything.

As Max made to move to the door, Chloe reached her hand out and gently held Max's hand in hers for a brief moment.

"See you soon," Chloe murmured.

* * *

"...famously called film, 'little pieces of time' but he could be talking about…"

Though Max usually paid attention during Jefferson's lectures, she found that that was not the case today. She glanced at the clock again, praying and wishing that it would go faster. Though Max was grateful for her rewind power, a part of her wished she had a fast-forward power as well.

Glancing down at her journal on the desk, Max sighed quietly, picking up her pencil and pretending to take notes. In reality she was doodling again, small sketches of her everyday life. Except this time, aside from the usual depictions of Blackwell, her drawings included Chloe every now and then as well.

Leaning back into her chair, Max waited for the bell to ring. After what seemed like an eternity, the sharp ringing interrupted Jefferson's lecture and Max was out of the room before anyone else.

Jogging out to the parking lot, her heart did a somersault in her chest as she saw Chloe leaning against her truck, cigarette held between two fingers. The moment Chloe saw her, she grinned, snuffing the end of her cigarette against the car door behind her. She'd changed her clothes—this time, Chloe wore a white t-shirt underneath a ripped denim vest, accompanied by her standard ripped jeans, boots, and ever-present beanie.

"Hey," Chloe said as Max approached, arms automatically wrapping around Max for a hug.

"Hey, yourself," Max replied, leaning back slightly to give Chloe a quick kiss. "So, where are we going today?"

"It's a surprise," Chloe laughed, pulling away to get into the cab of her truck. "Don't worry, you'll like it," she added when she saw Max's questioning look.

Getting into the passenger side and shutting the door, Max saw Chloe rev up the engine before pulling out of the parking lot.

"I hope our first date's going to be memorable in a good way, Chloe," Max said wryly, rolling down the window and putting one elbow against the edge of frame, her hand supporting her head as she leaned out, feeling the wind run through her hair.

Chloe snorted. "Dude, if something goes wrong, you can just rewind and tell me."

Max didn't have a response to that, and she stayed sullenly silent. Chloe glanced at her and burst out laughing.

"Aw, don't worry, Max. Where we're going, I don't think either of us are going to die," she said jokingly, but Max had turned pale then, sitting back into her seat and looking away. Max didn't notice that she'd clenched her hands then, knuckles white against her skin. Noticing Max's sudden tenseness, Chloe reached one hand forward and gently eased open one of Max's hands, interlacing her fingers with Max's.

"I'll be fine, Max," Chloe said reassuringly, rubbing one thumb over the back of Max's hand.

Taking a deep breath, Max tried to convince herself of that as well. Though Chloe hadn't meant to, bringing back the memories of when she'd almost died from the day before had sent a chill to Max's heart. Though she knew Chloe was real, was here, was alive, those memories still stuck to her—and reminded her of what her rewind power possibly meant. Max wondered if she'd been given this power specifically to save Chloe—and she suddenly remembered the blue butterfly. The butterfly…Max felt like she only had a few pieces of the puzzle. There was something missing…

"Yeah, sorry, Chloe," Max breathed, her hand tightening around Chloe's. "I just…wonder why I have this power. I don't even understand why  _I_  have it," she continued, lifting her right hand in front of her and trying to closely inspect it. No distinguishing marks, no scars, nothing—it was her hand, unchanged, except it could reverse time. Max reached over and rolled up the car window then, leaving the cab in a strange silence.

"I wonder if I was given this power to save you, Chloe," Max said quietly. "There was this blue butterfly that flew past me right before I got the power, but I'm starting to get the feeling that maybe it was some kind of angel—after I saved you, the butterfly was gone."

Chloe listened attentively, and Max saw something flash across Chloe's face—pain? Biting her lip, Chloe looked like she was on the verge of saying something before she thought otherwise. Max opened her mouth to press on the issue, but reconsidered—Chloe would tell her in time.

Chloe seemed deep in thought the rest of the drive to their destination, so Max kept to herself, stuck in her own thoughts. She couldn't help but have the nagging feeling that this power was somehow bigger than her, than her and Chloe. But it was too early to make guesses right now; hopefully in time, answers would come to her as long as she made the effort to look for them.

Eventually, Chloe pulled up to a dirt road before stopping the truck and hopping out. Max followed soon after, but all she saw was the dirt road leading up a ways into a forest of trees.

"So…our first date is at a forest," Max said slowly, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm not that lame, Max," Chloe said, reaching forward again and holding Max's hand before guiding her up the road. "It's further up ahead. And trust me, I'm pretty sure you'll like it."

"Oh? The way I liked it when you surprised me at my pool party and pushed me into the pool?" Max asked. Chloe's surprises back then had always had a flair for being a little too much.

Chloe laughed then. "You know that was totally funny."

Their banter continued up until they reached a small forest clearing, where a large tree sat in the middle, its thick trunk extending large roots in all directions across the ground. Max had to pause for a moment when they arrived—something about this place seemed so familiar. Letting go of Chloe's hand, Max took a few steps forward into the clearing, stepping over some roots as she came closer to the massive tree in the center. Its multitude of branches extended out and above, creating a canopy of leaves and a large umbrella of shade. Looking up, Max could see in between the tangle of branches the old treefort Chloe and her had played in as kids.

"Holy shit," Max breathed, mouth open in awe. It'd been so long since she'd been here—the tree had grown a tremendous amount since the last time she'd seen it. No wonder it looked so unfamiliar to her; just like Chloe, it'd evolved without her there.

She felt Chloe step next to her, putting one arm around Max's shoulders. "I'd thought you'd like to see the fort again," Chloe said. "I thought a nice place to go would be a place where it can just be the two of us."

Moving forward, Chloe took hold of a branch before hauling herself up onto the main body of the trunk. Max noted that Chloe seemed to move through the tree with ease; Chloe looked down then, waving a hand for Max to join her.

"Come on, slowpoke!"

Max rolled her eyes, taking a deep breath before reaching forward and pulling herself up as well. "I'm not as fast as you, Spider-Chloe," Max called back up to Chloe, who'd already managed to climb all the way up to the treefort.

After a few minutes of careful climbing, Max finally managed to make it to the last branch, breathing heavily, she braced herself to grab onto the ledge of the fort before she felt Chloe's hand firmly grasp her own. Chloe hauled her up again—Max wondered just how many times Chloe was going to have to pick her up, literally and figuratively—and Max managed to find her footing on the wooden floor of the fort.

The fort itself was more of a platform of wooden planks, with crude wooden railings on the edges on two adjacent sides, the other two sides having full fledged wooden walls. The walls supported a couple pieces of scrap metal above them, functioning as a roof on the fort.

In one of the corners, Max spotted a large metal box, and several empty beer bottles.  _No wonder Chloe climbed up so fast. She hangs out here too._

After making sure Max had gotten her breath back, Chloe moved to the corner and started rummaging through the metal box.

"How is the place still standing after all these years?" Max asked, looking around—the wood didn't look all that moldy or old. Some planks looked like they'd even been replaced recently.

"I keep the place going," Chloe sighed, taking out two blankets from the box and putting them on the floor. "Sometimes the Vortex Club hangs around the junkyard, so I go here when I need some peace and quiet." She sat down on a blanket and patted the spot next to her.

Max joined her, automatically leaning into Chloe's side, Chloe putting an arm around Max's shoulders.

"It's nice to be back," Max said, closing her eyes—the scent of trees came with the gentle breeze, and the soft rustle of leaves was calming.

They spent a moment in silence, just listening to the sounds of nature around them.  _The fact that Chloe still hangs here at the treefort…Poor Chloe. I can't even think about how lonely Chloe must've been here._

Eventually, Chloe shifted a little, and Max took that as her cue to sit back up. Chloe was biting her lip, uncertainty crossing her features, before resolve seemed to solidify her expression.

She took a deep breath before speaking. "Max, you know how you said it seemed like an angel had given you that power?"

Max nodded. "Yeah, why?"

Chloe was silent for several moments, and Chloe's expression looked so pained at that moment that Max reached forward and put her hand on Chloe's face. Leaning into it, the look in Chloe's eyes just radiated sadness.

"There was a girl I was with before you," Chloe's voice cracked at the end, but her voice didn't waver. "Her name was Rachel Amber."

Max knew who that girl was—her Missing Person posters were all over Blackwell. Her heart almost stopped when she realized—

"Chloe, you put up all those posters of Rachel," Max said slowly. Something was coming together—

Chloe nodded, face contorting with heartbreak.

"Yeah, I put them up…She was my angel. After my dad died and you moved, I felt abandoned," Chloe said sadly, looking at anywhere but Max. "Rachel saved my life. Just like you did when you came back," she said so softly that Max almost couldn't hear it above the rustle of the leaves.

A part of her felt relief; at least Chloe hadn't been completely alone after she'd moved. But then another part of her remembered that Rachel had been missing for a few months; perhaps David hadn't been lying when he'd said Chloe had no friends.

"But what happened to her?" Max asked tentatively, pulling Chloe into a hug.  _Chloe needs someone here for her now. I just hope I can do it right._

"I don't know, Max," Chloe said, the same tone of sorrow in her voice, "But we had a plan. Get out of Bigfootville and into Los Angeles. And then…" Chloe had to take a deep breath before she continued. "Six months ago. She just…left Arcadia. Without a word. Without me." Her voice broke at the end, and Chloe's hands were gripping Max's jacket tightly, shaking from emotion.

"Something happened to her, Max," Chloe whispered, pulling away from Max's arms and looking off into the distance.

Max opened her mouth to say something, but a sudden stab of pain in her head had her grimacing. Trying to focus, Max tried to say something again—but this time, the pain in her head seemed to magnify tenfold. A small gasp left Max's lips, and Chloe turned then, her expression immediately turning concerned—

The last thing Max saw was Chloe reaching towards her before her world went black.

* * *

_She's back here again._

_Pushing herself off the cold, wet dirt, she wraps her jacket tightly around herself, trying to make sense of why she was back. Lightning flashes in the distance, with thunder booming right after it. The violent winds whip the trees back and forth, and she grits her teeth, trying to ignore the freezing rain drops pelting her skin and clothes._

_Glancing up, she spots a deer standing along the path in front of her. She squints, trying to focus on it, but it continues to appear blurry and out of focus. Seeing no other option, she follows after the doe, hoping it'll bring her shelter from the storm._

_The deer comes to the top of the hill, waiting in the clearing in front of the lighthouse. She glances at the massive hurricane in the distance, adamant on its intent to destroy Arcadia Bay. She turns to look for the deer again, and this time, it stands in front of a small building a few steps to her right. The building's metal door frame creaks and groans from the wind hurling against it._

The doe seems like it wants me to go into the building—I hope it's right.

_Just when she comes close enough to touch the doe, it vanishes, and she's left wondering if she was hallucinating the image before shaking her head. Reaching forward, she grips the cold metal door handle and swings it open._

_Hurriedly rushing in and forcing the door shut behind her, she hears the howling gales outside, and she knows she has a limited amount of time before either the storm consumes her or something else does._

_Blinking in the sudden darkness, she spots a table in the corner, a shelf on the opposite. Gravitating towards the desk, she spots a large, expensive, digital camera—one that only professional photographers use._

I don't understand—this looks a lot like the camera Mr. Jefferson uses.

_Turning around, she heads towards the bookshelf on the wall, but her brow furrows when she notices that there are no books on it; only binders._

_In the dim lighting, she can barely make out the names on each side of the binders, but one name stands out in particular_.

_Rachel._

_Before she can reach up and take it, she feels a heavy hand on her shoulder, and she starts to turn, heart pounding—_

* * *

" _Max!"_

Gasping, Max's eyes flew open, breathing heavily as her heart hammered away in her chest. For a moment, Max struggled to understand where she was; her face was pressed against a blanket, and wooden planks seemed to surround her.

Chloe's face came into view then, worried and panicked.

"Max! Max, are you okay?!" Chloe asked anxiously, helping Max back up into a sitting position.

"Dude, you totally blacked out for a few seconds there," Chloe said breathlessly, rubbing her hand up and down Max's back.

Max held her head in her hands; her vision had felt so real.

The realization suddenly hit her like a train.

Her rewind power. The hurricane. Rachel.

_They were all connected. Rachel…she's telling me something._

Max looked up then, her heart pounding as the enormity of this new revelation came to her. Chloe seemed unnerved at Max's tense expression, and she pulled away slightly, looking uneasy.

"Max…?"

"Chloe, I have to tell you something," Max started. Chloe swallowed then, but nodded, expression turning serious as Max started to recite her vision.

Whatever happened now, whatever her vision or power meant, wherever Rachel had gone—Max knew all those answers lie in the future, and all those answers were tied in some inexplicable way.

And she and Chloe would find them all out, together.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do plan on rewriting this entire fic once the whole game is out and we figure out what everything really means lol. The ending is a little open-ended and a little unsatisfactory, at least to me (or maybe that's just because I want to know what happened to Rachel too), but with time, I hope my writing and planning can get better. Thanks to everyone who stuck it out with me! I have two more AU ideas in mind, and I hope to have one of them up and posting in the next few weeks. Again, thanks for the support and reviews! I hope you guys enjoyed this fic, comment/review if you can, and see you guys soon!


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